


under stars

by thetakeover



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Mass Effect Andromeda AU, Pathfinder Lena, Space Exploration, also gays in space hello, u dont need to know the game to understand the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-11-14 10:31:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11206233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetakeover/pseuds/thetakeover
Summary: It's 2175, and Earth, among other inhabited planets, are running out of time. The population has gotten out of control, and the only solution is to flee Earth - also the Milky Way - to find a new home. Lena Luthor is tasked with finding and securing humanity's new home in the Andromeda galaxy, after a 600-year-long journey through space. With the support of an initially ragtag squad, the mission is dangerous, long, but above all else - exciting.





	1. the path we find

2175, and Earth, among other inhabited planets, are running out of time. With the population out of control, the only solution is to flee Earth - and the Milky Way - to find a new home, to start over. Scientists from all over the globe and the galaxy band together to advance technology and develop aid for the effort that would eventually become the Andromeda Initiative. With L-Corp being one of the leading technology companies donating all their resources to the cause, it would be only months before these grandiose plans would come to fruition. 5 species, 5 arks, a one-way trip.

     **_Pathfinder - /ˈpɑːθfʌɪndə/ - noun_**

**** _A blend of elite soldier, scientist, and guide tasked by the Andromeda Initiative to find a new home for Milky Way colonists seeking to settle in the Andromeda galaxy. Pathfinders are trained to improve the viability of potential ‘golden worlds’, initiate first contact with unknown species, find suitable outpost sites, and handle any external threats before the first colonist touches soil._

 

**703 years ago - Andromeda**

The sight of over a million stars flying by at incredible speed has a young Kara mesmerised. Hands pressed flush against the glass of the cargo bay window.

She hadn’t yet realised that stars moving by this quickly meant that her home was far behind, lost within nebulas, hidden behind suns and asteroids.

A hand grabbed at the back of her shirt and yanked her back down to the floor.

“Sit _down_.”

Kara stared out of the window from her spot on the floor, absentmindedly plucking at the metal grate she sat on, watching the stars turn into lines in the sky and a shimmery effect further warp the image.

Alarms blared and the cargo bay was suddenly bathed in a severe red light that steadily pulsed. She pushed off the floor as guards rushed in, directing the other occupants of the ship to the escape pods.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice was small, barely heard over the alarms.

“Get in the pod.” It was a woman behind the guard’s tinted helmet and the waver in her voice planted a seed of fear in Kara’s chest.

It planted itself deep and spread outwards, making her limbs feel heavy and her feet stick to the floor. With a hard shove at her shoulder she was forced to move, only able to think of the family she had unknowingly left behind as she stepped into the escape pod.

The sound of the door being shut and locking startled Kara out of her thoughts, the image of her mother’s smiling face being replaced with the view out of the window of the pod as the ship they had been in not 10 seconds ago exploding in a ball of fire.

_“Kara, do not trust strangers. Willing crews are few and far between, outlaws will pick anyone off the streets – I could not bear to lose you.” Alura cupped Kara’s cheek gently, brushing her thumb along her cheekbone._

Her eyes filled with tears, reflecting the orange and yellow hues of the exploded ship before her eyelids closed, and she sank down into her seat, supressing the urge to scream. Kara didn’t know it yet, but it would be centuries before she set food in familiar territory again. The vents hissed and frost poured out, filling the pod. Panic took over her entire being as she felt everything slow down, and cryogenic sleep set in.

The stars outside the window belonged to a completely different galaxy.

 

**693 years ago – Milky Way (Earth, 2185)**

Lena groaned, rolling onto her stomach and burying her face in her pillow. The sun was peeking through the curtains, warming a sliver of her skin. She found the gentle caress of the sun almost as annoying as an actual alarm.

_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP_

Scratch that. Alarms were still the most annoying wake-up call. She smacked the panel on the wall above her head, hitting the green ‘off’ button with accuracy. She swung her legs out and sat up, brushing her hair away from her face and to one side.

Dressing and stepping into shoes, Lena bothered to look in the mirror before leaving her room. “Alright, Luthor. Smile.” She took a deep breath and smiled on the exhale, feeling her spirits lift slightly.

The hydraulic hiss of her door opening caught her attention and she smiled wider seeing a familiar face peek in. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Jess, pinch me?”

“Only after you dress in your actual uniform, you can’t go to the ceremony wearing your pyjamas, Lena.”

She looked down at herself and sighed, “Right. I’ll see you out there, don’t wait up for me.” The door closed and Lena grabbed her uniform, changing into it and wiping off a little dust. The navy suit still fit, thankfully, and the silver Andromeda Initiative logo shone in the mirror’s reflection. She tied her hair back into a neat ponytail and looked in the mirror at herself one last time.

“Go time.”

The Initiative hall was decorated in blues, whites, silvers and golds, the banners hung between the tall windows that let in beams of the sun’s rays. Lena stood among a few others on the stage, looking out over all the members of the Initiative, all of those responsible for the ability to travel across galaxies in search of a new home – Earth was sick. It was time to leave.

Lena stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her eyes sombre as she looked out over the masses. ‘Could all of these people really trust me? Thousands of lives will be in my hands.’ She thought to herself, struggling with doubt. Her family wasn’t known for failure, having been some of the most influential people on Earth. They were one of the many benefactors of the Initiative, and owners of the organisation responsible for the furtherment of space travel. However, Lena had never let those accomplishments get to her head. After all, she was the only Luthor left to make a mark on the world.

“I present to you Lena Luthor, the human Pathfinder.”

A voice shook Lena from her thoughts and she blinked, moving to stand at the podium as if her doubts had been an illusion. She stood tall, clutching the sides of the podium, knowing this honour was her mark, her title, her opportunity to grab onto.

“I promise to get us to Andromeda in one piece, all of you and more. Families, friends, people who believe that our time here on Earth is over. I can’t promise that leaving will be easy, that everyone on Earth will be able to make the journey.” She spoke surely, trained to speak in a way that would instil hope and bravery in the hearts of every human that watched. “It is my responsibility to find us a new home, a new planet. A golden world. The responsibility isn’t my own - we leave Earth as one family, one unit, and each one of here in this hall today will have a part to play in ensuring our survival in Andromeda.”

Lena breathed in, taking a moment to let the weight of the moment sit within her, savouring the courage she pulled out of thin air.

“This path began a long time ago. Humans conquered oceans, continents, and now the stars. The time has come to make a future beyond the Milky Way. 600 years from where we stand, among unknown stars and dangers, together we will go further.” She nodded, ending her speech.

The hall erupted in applause and cheer as everyone joined in standing, filling Lena with pride and confidence. She could do this. If not for her family, for herself and the human race.

 

“Lena!” Jess caught up as they were escorted down a long hallway, bumping her shoulder. “I mean, Pathfinder Luthor.” She laughed lightly.

“I could get used to that.” Lena smirked, being escorted to the shuttle (fitted with technology to make the jump in just an hour) they would take to reach the Hyperion. The human ark that would hold everyone in cryogenic sleep until they reached the Andromeda galaxy. “Let’s get this show on the road.” They reached the end of the hallway and were seated in the shuttle, the doors closing and light filling the cabin as they moved between the Initiative compound on Earth and the ark itself, on standby in the Moon’s orbit.

Out of the window on approach, it was a monolith in space, more than one-and-a-half kilometres long, weighing 17 million metric-tons. Slightly terrifying, extremely exhilarating to witness. Soon it would be hurtling through space at speeds faster-than-light. “I know it’s been almost a decade since construction on that thing began, but seeing it is still a shock to the system.”

All the other shuttles, containing the 20,000 civilians came out of FTL just behind their shuttle, preparing to dock the Hyperion. It would be a long process, but miniscule in comparison to the length of the journey ahead. However, the wait would leave much time to plant doubt and fear in the hearts of many. Lena hoped the soothing sounds of various scientists listing facts about Andromeda and some of the golden worlds over there would keep everyone calm.

“Glad you’re coming with me.” Lena glanced at Jess, her once-assistant from her days at L-Corp turned friend and colleague.

“Wouldn’t miss it, Pathfinder.”

“Still sounds good.” Lena pat Jess on the back gently before the artificial gravity smoothly kicked in, allowing her to step off the docked shuttle, and onto the Hyperion.

They were escorted to the bridge on the Hyperion’s internal transportation, a dynamic monorail system. It was everything Lena dreamed it would be, the bridge’s height making the view out the window down on Earth truly breathtaking. After briefly taking in the view, her attention turned to the group of people standing together at the main controls. She walked over, feeling all eyes fall on her as she approached.

“Pathfinder Luthor, an honour. I’m your captain, Elle Morgan.”

“Captain Morgan, you drink at all?” Lena bit back a smile, trying not to appear as giddy as she felt inside. “Kidding, the honour is all mine.”

“I like you already.” Elle flashed a smile, shaking Lena’s hand firmly. “All of us here are your cross-galaxy crew. In the event of an emergency we will be the ones brought out of cryo to assist.”

“No offense, but I hope I don’t see you for 600 years.”

“The feeling’s mutual. We’re hoping for a smooth, eventless journey.” The captain took a seat at the controls, bringing up a holographic display that showed Earth and its position in the Milky Way galaxy, and their trajectory to the Andromeda Galaxy. “Here is where we’ll end up after the 600-year trip. From there, we only have two systems to travel through to reach the Nexus.”

“I hope it’s ready for us.” Lena mumbled, chewing at her bottom lip as she double checked all the statistics for their journey. “Honestly, after all the training I’ve been through, I’m just about ready to sleep for a handful of centuries.”

Her comment drew laughter from the crew, and Jess appeared at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Nap time, Pathfinder. Are you ready?”

“Just one moment, Jess.”

She walked over to the large window, pressing her hand to the glass, looking out to the planet she had called home her entire life. The way the sun threw light over the sea and land, Lena hoped the planets of Andromeda would feel and look similar, if not the same. She closed her eyes, taking in the feeling of immense nerves, excitement, the itch in her fingers to explore tugging at the pang of sadness she had to be leaving Earth forever. Feeling the familiar sting of tears behind her eyelids, she blinked them away and let her hand fall, stepping away and returning to Jess.

“Shame we can’t get a last-minute sun tan up here. You’re in desperate need of one.”

Lena scoffed and hit Jess on the shoulder, walking past her to the waiting monorail cabin. They rode it in silence, walking into the cryogenics bay and making their way past the long queue of civilians waiting to be placed in cryo. She smiled as they passed, hoping the way she carried herself would encourage confidence in everyone around her, despite the fact that she was moments away from being frozen solid.

“Pathfinder Lena Luthor and Jess Choi reporting for cryogenic sleep.” Lena stepped forward, holding out her hand and getting her implant scanned so that her identification was paired with the pod she would be placed in. She was guided to her pod and hesitantly stepped inside, pressing herself flush against the padding inside.

“See you on the other side, Lena.”

“See you soon, Jess.”

The door closed on her and the pod filled with freezing air, the window frosting up as she slowly fell unconscious, into cryogenic sleep.

 

**73 metres away**

“Hi, yes, Kara Zor-El.” Kara held out her hand enthusiastically, basically shoving her ticket home in the officer’s face.

“Zorrell? That’s a new one.”

“No, _Zor-El_. Parents took on some Asari influence.” Kara shrugged, used to the lie to get people to stop prodding her with questions about her unusual name.

“Someone’s awfully excited to be frozen.” The officer smiled, scanning her chip. The verification took a second longer than usual which prompted a confused look, but the green tick ensured him that everything was normal. “Welcome aboard the Hyperion, Miss Zor-El.”

“Thank you! So great to be here, really.” She gushed, grinning.

“I certainly haven’t seen anyone as excited as you yet, I’m just glad there’s _someone_ feeling that way. Anyway, please step this way.” The officer guided Kara to a pod, showing her where to step in. “Yes, just get yourself settled in there. Comfy?”

“Definitely. The cushioning in here is better than my own bed!”

He laughed, genuinely. This woman had made his entire day, despite the circumstances. “Alright, now I’m going to shut the door and you’ll be asleep in no time. You might feel a little cold.”

“It’s okay, I know the drill. Thank you so much…” She glanced at his name badge, “…Officer Miles!”

“Sleep well, Miss Zor-El.”

The door shut and Kara fought at the feeling of fear and the painful memories of how she ended up on Earth as they rose up inside. She closed her eyes and felt the sting of the extreme cold as it filled the pod, and moments later she drifted into unconsciousness, her pod being lifted to join the rest already in storage.

10 hours later, the Hyperion, with a devastating amount of thrust behind it, pushed itself out of the Moon’s orbit and left the solar system. “Autopilot engaged.” Elle stood from her seat, coordinating her team. “Final checks.”

“ODSY Drive System is green.”

“Ark holding steady in sustained FTL.”

“Trajectory is locked and stable.”

“Final checks completed, time to go and get some shut-eye.” Elle stood with her team in a circle, each person with their arms over the shoulders of those beside them. “10 years it took us to get here. I’ll see you all again, and you can bet your ass we’re gonna be the hottest 600-year-olds in the universe.” The team shared a round of laughter before separating and making their way to the cryo bay.

“Danvers.” Alex spun around and the sound of her name, facing her captain with a brief look of concern.

“Elle, everything okay?” She pulled out her tablet, figuring a last look over her team’s vitals wouldn’t be such a bad idea as they headed into cryo.

“A little bird told me you’re going to be on the Pathfinder’s squad over in Andromeda. Honestly, I’ll be sad to see you go.” Elle walked with Alex, a hand on the doctor’s shoulder.

Alex ran a hand through her hair and sighed, not sure yet how she felt with that pressure being placed on her. “I should be excited, I applied for the position after all. And hey, at least we’ll be in the same galaxy. I’ll come visit, unless you find a new favourite doctor.”

“You’re everyone’s favourite, that won’t change. The Pathfinder better treat you well, or settling our new home won’t be her only problem.” Elle pushed her fist into her palm, smiling playfully at Alex.

“I’m sure she will.” They turned the corner and entered the cryo bay. Lights turned on only when movement was detected, following them down to the final pods that hadn’t yet been sealed and put into storage.

Alex turned off her tablet and shoved it in the personal pocket inside her pod, using the scanner attached to the wall she scanned every last team member’s chip, and then her own. “Well, that’s it. Everyone’s checked into icicle hotel. Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the frost bite.” She laughed softly.

“Night, Danvers.” Elle and her team stepped into their own pods and Alex watched on as her friends froze and the large machinery picked up their pods and placed them into empty slots among the other frozen civilians.

She chewed at her bottom lip, feeling an excited buzz take over as she stepped into her pod. The door closed and so did her eyes as she fell into a deep state of unconsciousness.

The Hyperion fell dark, save for the external guidance lights and vital systems as it flew through space, straight towards unfamiliar territory.


	2. a strange awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 600 years have passed since the human colonists entered their cryogenic sleep. The journey started off without a hitch, until now. In a completely new area of space - and time - things don't go the way they were planned.

     **_Hyperion - /haɪˈpɪəriən/ - noun_ **

     _One of several arks specifically designed for the Andromeda Initiative's mission. While its support staff is comprised of a variety of Milky Way races, the Hyperion is primarily responsible for the transport of human colonists to Andromeda. Hyperion – and its sister arks – rank among the largest starships in the galaxy._

     **2818 - Andromeda Galaxy**

    Lena woke with a start, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the light. She gasped, feeling her lungs fill with air as she struggled to get her bearings. “We made it.” Her voice was coarse, rough with disuse.

    “Hey, take it easy.” A hand was on her shoulder, the touch warm, and Lena was thankful for it. The grip was steady and strong and immediately grounded her.

    “Been taking it easy for 600 years.” Lena grumbled, finally able to look around without being blinded. She looked up and into the eyes of the doctor that was checking up on her. “When can I speak with Captain Morgan?”

    “As soon as I give you the all-clear.” Alex removed her hand from Lena’s shoulder to continue checking bio stats on her tablet. “The name’s Alex Danvers. I’m your assigned doctor. Have any nausea? Headache? Pain where there shouldn’t be any?”

    “No, I feel fine.”

    “Don’t feel like you have to lie to appear strong, Pathfinder. Though your presence _was_ requested on the bridge.” She put her tablet down and shone a light in Lena’s eyes, everything seemed good externally.

    Lena frowned, “I’d be requested if the situation was urgent. Why am I still sitting here?” She made a move to stand and head to the bridge, but Alex stopped her, standing toe-to-toe with the Pathfinder.

    “Respectfully, Pathfinder, sit the hell down.” Alex raised an eyebrow, needing to finish the physical.

    She narrowed her eyes at the doctor, “If I wasn’t going through something life-threatening, you wouldn’t be stopping me right now. So, unless I’m currently in a life or death situation, get the _hell_ out of my way, Danvers. I have somewhere to be.” Lena watched Alex’s posture relax and took the opportunity to push Alex aside and walk with a heavy step towards the monorail. She looked over her shoulder at Alex, “I’ll come back if my physical is really that important to you.”

    Heading out of the revival bay, Lena chose to ignore the frustrated mumbling Alex spat in her direction, fortunately it was swiftly cut off by the sliding doors as they shut behind her.

    The bridge was a mess, officers were running back and forth trying to satisfy any and all system alarms that were blaring. “Pathfinder on bridge!” The guards at the door yelled, efficiently grabbing the attention of the entire crew. All eyes were on her.

    “Don’t just stand there, keep working!” Lena called out, searching the room for Captain Morgan. There, at the main controls. She ducked and weaved through the working crew to get to Elle, “Status report?” Lena asked, having to raise her voice to be heard over the alarms.

    “Let’s skip the formalities, we were pulled out of cryo early.” Elle’s eyes were wide and darting over multiple displays, but she showed no signs of slowing her effort to figure out what was going on.

    “Early!? How early?” Lena felt her chest constrict and suddenly it hurt to breathe. Either something was very wrong, or coming out of sustained FTL had done a number on the ark. Such a wake-up call was unnerving, no matter the cause.

    Elle stood as tall as she could, going so far as to hoist herself onto the console. “Divert and split all power between cryo storage and hydraulic systems! Kill the engines!” She all but screamed. Turning to look out the window, they watched on as the parts of the ship they could see went dark and the alarms fell silent. Screens slowly flicked over to the friendly blue instead of the alarming red, and the bridge quietened.

    “I’ll ask again. How early?” Lena looked up at Elle, waiting for her answer.

    “47 minutes early.” The Captain hopped down, smirking at Lena.

    “You asshole!” Lena yelled, landing a friendly punch on Elle’s shoulder. “I was expecting you to say months, maybe even years.” She sighed with relief, leaning on the console and taking a moment to look at the data. She pulled up the map, showing their current location with respect to the rendezvous point, the Nexus. “The Nexus was supposed to be in place 14 months prior to our arrival. It better be there, and in one piece.”

    “I’m sure it will be, I trust the team responsible for it’s transportation fully.” Captain Morgan was ecstatic, it was evident in her posture, her smile, the look in her eyes. This woman was in charge of this entire ark, and she knew it. Lena had never been more thankful that her job as Pathfinder didn’t include piloting the ark, or something just as large. “Right now, the Hyperion is floating instead of jetting through space. As soon as the other systems stabilise I’ll be able to turn the engines back on and get us to the Nexus. I also should probably figure out what caused us to wake up.” She drummed her fingers against the glass, looking at statistics like their speed, direction of drift, especially the number of people currently out of cryo.

    Lena finally saw the flashing light being emitted from the bracelet on her left wrist. She tapped the metal band and looked at the incoming message that appeared and illuminated the skin of her forearm. “I’ve got to get back to the revival bay. Keep me updated.”

 

    “Finally. Everything okay on the bridge? I heard the engines had been shut off.” Alex looked up from her tablet when Lena returned to the revival bay to finish her physical.

    “We were brought out of cryo 47 minutes early, and you can imagine my relief after assuming the worst.” Lena sat back down on the bench and reluctantly let Alex place a few electrodes on her temples and forehead. “Captain Morgan’s trying to determine what caused it.”

    Lena’s attention slipped from Alex and shifted to a girl huddled in a corner on the other side of the bay. The girl was sobbing, and also swatting at a doctor trying to calm her down enough to perform a check-up. She flinched as Alex sent an electrical signal into her body to test its response.

    Alex tucked her stylus behind her ear and smiled down at Lena, “Everything looks okay. I’m still going to recommend that you take it easy, use the adjustment period on the Nexus to recover, definitely don’t push yourself straight away. We, and I mean all of humanity, needs you in top form. Cryo is hard on human physiology.”

    “Got it. Can I go now?” She was still watching the girl in the corner, wanting to go over and see if she could comfort the distressed. It was the least she could do as a Pathfinder, trained to be calm and collected in high pressure situations, and to have those qualities rub off on the people around her.

    “Sure, I’ll be seeing you later, Pathfinder Luthor.”

    Lena groaned at Alex before getting back up and making her way to the other side of the revival bay. The closer she got, the more distressed the other girl appeared. Were those finger sized _dents_ in the floor? She gasped when the girl’s head whipped back and smashed a portion of the electronic display covering one of the four walls of the revival bay. Surely it had been built to withstand more, but that wasn’t the problem Lena was wanting to solve. She pulled the doctor that was essentially cornering the girl out of the way and crouched down, her eyes trained on the girl who seemed to curl impossibly further into herself.

    “Hey, we’re safe, everything’s okay.” Lena kept her voice soft, removing any malice or uncertainty from her tone. “I’m-“

    “Pathfinder Luthor…” Blue met green and Lena’s entire outlook on life in Andromeda was flipped upside down.

    “Yeah, can I ask what your name is?” She shifted, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the girl, adopting a friendlier position. She knew how to conduct herself, to seem professional, but a Pathfinder was trained to support humanity in all areas, not just in finding and settling a golden world. She could feel the eyes of many others in the revival bay focused on them but decided to take no notice just yet.

    “Kara.” The name left her lips in a half-sob, and she wiped at her eyes and shifted so that she sat with her body turned towards the Pathfinder. She felt confused but honoured such a person would be doing this, taking time out of the madness to sit on the floor in an effort to calm her down. “I’m Kara.” She spoke louder but her voice still broke, just in case Lena hadn’t heard her correctly.

    Lena smiled, “Kara. That’s a beautiful name. What are you?”

    “Wh-what am I?” Kara visibly panicked and a few more tears fell down already tear-stained cheeks. “I-I…” She didn’t know what to say, or how to get the tears to stop falling. The skin underneath her eyes felt tender from the amount of times she’d used her sleeves to wipe away the tears. If anyone found out that she wasn’t human, that she was a species native to Andromeda… a few scenarios popped into her head, all of them bad.

    Kara’s thoughts kept going back to Krypton, her home, the planet she had been stolen from. Kryptonians had technology the Milky Way species could only dream about, and that fact had been shoved in Kara’s face as soon as she heard that it had been 600 years since they left the Milky Way galaxy. A _lot_ could happen in 600 years. Whole planets could perish, whole species could go extinct. Oh _Rao_ , her _family_. The tears just kept coming, broken sounds ripping outwards from her chest. She curled back in on herself to try and contain them.

    She felt a hand rest on her knee and she flinched, seeing the Pathfinder offering a tissue to her. She took it and wiped at her eyes, finding the tissue much softer than the course and now damp fabric of her sleeves. “T-Thank you…” It was barely audible but Lena’s nod signalled that she had been heard.

    Lena looked around at the people who were watching them and almost growled, “Don’t you people have things to be doing?” She watched as they all scrambled, and then looked at the doctor. “I’ll take over from here, you can leave us.” She grabbed his tablet and moved to sit next to Kara. “ _Now_.” She growled when the doctor didn’t move, but the command seemed to work. A moment passed and she realised she didn’t know how to perform a revival check-up. “Alright.” She thought back to the things Alex had gone over. “Any nausea? Pain?”

    “I don’t think so…” Kara whispered, looking behind her at the shattered display and gasped, “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean t-“ Seeing the damaged she had caused brought a fresh batch of tears to her eyes and she hastily dabbed them away with her tissue.

    “Kara, it’s fine. I’m surprised there isn’t _more_ damage done to the ark. Give me your hand?” She smiled when Kara held her hand out, feeling more confident now that she had already gotten further than the doctor had. She looked over Kara’s profile, reading the statistics. “Wow, your results are flawless.”

    “R-Really? That’s good, right? Everything is normal?” Kara’s voice was small, wavering like her emotions.

    “Of course. It’s amazing.” Lena smiled at Kara, seeing her smile returned even just a little bit from the girl with puffy red eyes filled her with a warm feeling she couldn’t yet name. “Now, why are you upset?”

    “A lot… lots can change in 600 years.” Kara began, “I-I’m just overwhelmed.” She flinched again slightly when she felt Lena’s hand on her shoulder. “I apologise for making a scene…” She was only just starting to calm down, the tears had slowed right down and her eyes no longer stung.

    “There’s no need to apologise. It’s my job to lead humanity to their new home, that job includes making sure everyone is happy. If any scenes are made on that journey to happiness they’re excused.” Lena’s features softened, she felt a growing connection to Kara. Perhaps if she wasn’t trained in hiding her true feelings behind a stable, confident façade, she’d be in the same position as Kara.

    Kara made a move to stand, needing fresh air, to get to a place with plant life – fresher oxygen, but Lena got to her feet first and held out a hand to her, smiling when the girl accepted her hand and swiftly got to her feet. Lena released Kara’s hand and handed the tablet off to a doctor that passed by. “Listen,” She was cut off by an incoming message from Elle.

     _Rendezvous with Nexus in 3 hours, engines are back up and entering FTL. Just got word of what you did in the revival bay :)_

    Lena dismissed the message and looked back at Kara, meeting a curious gaze. “Got word from Captain Morgan, should be 3 hours until we reach the Nexus.”

    “That’s grea-“

    “I wanted t-“

    “Sorry, you go first.” Kara shook her head softly, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, and a blush painting her face.

    “Okay, I wanted to ask… if you don’t have anything to do, would you be interested in grabbing a snack? Plenty of time until we reach our destination, and honestly, I’m surprised my stomach isn’t making any sounds despite how hungry I feel.”

    Kara’s eyes lit up at the prospect of food, “I-I’d like that.”

    Lena returned Kara’s smile and escorted her to the main atrium of the ark where food and drink was being handed out, people moving out of their way as soon as they noticed it was their Pathfinder leading Kara through the crowds.

 

     **3.37 hours later**

    “You’re not going to believe this.”

    “We’re in a whole new galaxy, Elle, I’ve been forced to believe a _lot_ of things in the past three hours.” Lena propped herself against the main console, watching the Captain go through the Nexus approach procedure.

    “I’m not getting a response from the Nexus docking control.” With her brow furrowed, Elle tried one last time to get a response. “This is Ark Hyperion requesting to dock at Nexus Port N-100.”

    Nothing but static came over the PA system.

    “Dock anyway, if no one’s answering we can only assume no one’s going to stop us.” Lena pointed out, taking a seat at the console when Elle shrugged and engaged the ark’s docking systems.

    It was a tense ten minutes before they were finally tethered to the Nexus. Compared to the already gigantic Hyperion, the Nexus was a titan. Lena knew as soon as she stepped onto the Nexus, it would make the Hyperion feel cramped and claustrophobic.

     _‘DOCKING COMPLETE.’_ The voice of the artificial intelligence within the ark boomed overhead and Lena let out the breath she had been holding. “Time to go stretch my legs.”

    “No stretching in the last three hours? At all?” Elle glanced at Lena, her questioning gaze managed to squeeze a secret from her Pathfinder.

    “I met someone.”

    “I’d say tell me all about it, but honestly I just want to get off this thing.”

    “She was really, _really_ upset in the revival bay, but I managed to calm her down when no one else could. We get along well, and having a friend already is making this whole journey easier.” Lena mused, standing up and checking if she had any messages. “I need to get going, leadership wants me to head up the recon team to scope out the Nexus, to try and find the Director.”

    She left, walking with purpose to the monorail. She hopped on, selecting her destination. A full minute later she was in the loadout room, opening her locker and pulling her armour out, putting it on. She grabbed her pistol, holding it over her shoulder and feeling the magnet slots on her back grab it out of her hand, holding it in place on her back.

    “Everyone ready?” Lena took up her position at the front of the group, after confirmation, she used the omni-tool on her forearm to unlock the door.

    They stepped off the Hyperion, and onto the Nexus. Everything felt off, the lights weren’t on and it was silent. “I’ll check if anything on the Nexus is drawing power.” She looked at her omni-tool, bringing up the Nexus’ network. “Here,” she brought the hologram up, showing the rest of the team, “all the power is being diverted to Operations. Gives us an answer as to why no one was there to permit the docking.” She got rid of the hologram, leading the team to the Nexus’ monorail.

    Thankfully, the monorails had power, and they were fast. Within moments they were stepping into Operations and Lena squinted hard when a light was shone in her face.

    “Oh!”

    “Is that…”

    “New people!”

    A handful of voices spoke up, voices that didn’t belong to anyone on her team. The light moved off her face and Lena blinked, taking in the room. The command centre of the Nexus.

    “We’re parked at N-100, is that okay?” Lena handed her helmet off to a team member so she could talk.

    “You… what?” An Asari woman walked up, and Lena took in her appearance. Blue skin, wearing Initiative clothing. At least they were in friendly company.

    “Ark Hyperion is docked at N-100, are we on time?” She started getting impatient, wanting answers. “I’m the human Pathfinder, Lena Luthor. Can I speak to the officer in charge?”

    The Asari woman got over her surprise quickly, “The human ark! Pathfinder Luthor! Certainly, I’ll go and get Director J’onzz. Feel free to talk to the Turian Officer Karlus and his team over there by main control.”

    Lena watched the woman go before moving with her team over to the group of Nexus officers huddled around the main control centre. “Why do people sound surprised to see the human ark?”

    Karlus turned around to meet Lena’s concerned gaze. “No other arks have arrived yet. As you know, the timeline was to rendezvous with an ark every 3-ish months, with the Hyperion being the last.”

    “I’ll have to talk with the Director about that later, finding out the fates of the other arks is definitely a priority. Also, why no power?” She had to ask, confused as to why the rest of the station was in darkness.

    “There’s been some problems with construction, and unfortunately the power reserves drained faster than we anticipated. Now that the Hyperion is docked and connected to the Nexus, we’re hoping to siphon off power from the ark to turn some lights back on.” Karlus pressed a button on the main controls and the shields over the large windows slid open to reveal the arms of the Nexus reaching out into the clouds. The station sat in the orbit of an uninhabited planet, and the orbital cloud cover allowed them to avoid detection from any unfriendly passers-by.

    Slowly but surely, with the power reserves of the Hyperion, certain sections of the Nexus had their lights turned on. Some disabled systems came back online, the activity quickly noticed by those that had stayed back on the ark, given away by the messages Lena was suddenly receiving in spades.

    “It’s been months since we’ve seen power reserves this high.” Mumbled the officer. “Your arrival will bring much needed hope to all of us living on the Nexus.”

    “Good. One of my plans is to find a sustainable power source for the Nexus. I brought L-Corp with me, and we can’t wait to discover the new life and elements of Andromeda. Hopefully we’ll be able to further technology beyond what the Milky Way was able to provide.” She felt proud, among many other things. However, developing technology would have to be a hobby, it would have to take the backseat in her duties as Pathfinder.

    “Pathfinder Luthor, so good to finally meet you.”

    Lena shook the hand that was extended to her, looking up at who she assumed was Director J’onzz. “I didn’t realise you were a Green Martian. It’s so good to finally meet _you_. I apologise, profusely, for all that my family did to your kind in the past.”

    “No need to apologise, Pathfinder. I know you aren’t like your ancestors. You being here as Pathfinder is proof enough.” The sentiments chased away the panic that had filled Lena as soon as she realised that her boss was a descendent of the alien race the Luthor family had ruthlessly experimented with, back on Earth.

    She was ashamed of those she was related to. Thankfully, no other Luthor had made the journey with them to Andromeda. Lena, as the sole Luthor, was determined to change the attitude towards her last name. Already hearing Luthor preceded by the title ‘Pathfinder’ had people accepting and respecting her. She knew there would always be some degree of hostility, but the least she could do was carry out her responsibility, and do better than those before her.

    “Thank you, that means a lot to me.” Lena smiled sincerely, shaking the Director’s hand once more.

    “Get your people out of cryo, any Nexus workers and essential personnel. They’ll be directed to colonial affairs and be assigned places to live.” J’onn looked to Lena, “I’ll talk with you later about when your mission begins and about the missing arks. For now, get to know your squad, and take your time adjusting.” He then dismissed Lena and her team.

    Lena turned to her people, “You heard the Director, let’s go and get more people thawed out and our accommodation sorted.”

 

    “Pathfinder Luthor?” A familiar voice caught her attention and she pulled away from her work on sorting through the rest of the people yet to be brought out of cryo.

    Lena turned around and Kara was standing there, holding her duffle bag of personal effects. “Kara, is everything okay? Not that I’m not happy to see you…”

    “Oh, I just forgot to thank you for helping me earlier. May I…” Kara put her bag down, “Can I give you a hug?” She blushed, and the way Kara held her arms out made Lena’s head spin.

    Without a word, Lena stepped into her arms, wrapping her own around Kara’s midsection, feeling Kara’s arms go around her shoulders. It was warm, no one had held her this tightly, with this much feeling before. She closed her eyes, savouring the feeling. “I know we’re… still strangers… but I was hoping that I’d be able to call you a friend, if that’s okay.” Kara’s voice was right next to her ear, and the sound so close make Lena’s cheeks flush slightly.

    “You’d be my only friend, are you sure you’re ready for that responsibility?” Lena joked, pulling away from the hug to look into Kara’s eyes.

    “Being your friend wouldn’t be a responsibility, it’d be an honour.” Kara laughed softly, picking her bag up again. The sound was music to Lena’s ears.

    Lena tapped her bracelet and sent her details to the bracelet that Kara wore. “There, now we can stay in touch. Don’t hesitate to message me about anything.”

    “Okay! I should get going, colonial affairs are processing people, I don’t want to miss out on getting a place to live. You’re probably busy too, I don’t want to keep you from your duties.” Kara rambled, cutting herself off when Lena raised a hand.

    “Don’t worry about it, Kara. Even if there’s no places left, I can always pull at someone’s strings.” Lena laughed softly, “I’ll see you later.”

    Kara looked shocked at Lena’s admission. The Pathfinder, pulling strings for her? “Thank you, again, Pathfinder Luthor.”

    “Please, call me Lena.”

    “Lena.”

    “What are you still doing here? Go, get a place to live, get a job allocation!” Lena smiled, turning back to the console she was working on and continuing her search.

    Kara smiled widely, watching Lena work for a moment before leaving and heading to colonial affairs. She still had a bad feeling in her gut, unsure about the future she had found herself in and the state of her home. Nevertheless, she pushed on. ‘Now… where and when can I get my hands on a shuttle…’ She thought to herself, trying to formulate a plan to run away and find her way back to Krypton.


	3. a journey begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena meets her squad and her ship, the Lutessa. The journey begins, with an extra squad member.

     ** _Lutessa - /luːtɛsɑ/ - noun_**

     _A scout ship used by the Pathfinder team to explore various worlds across the Heleus Cluster in the hope of finding suitable homes for Milky Way colonists. Everything in it is state of the art. Winn Schott was part of the team that designed and tested the Lutessa and its prototype. Before the arrival of the Hyperion, Nexus leadership had planned to dismantle the Lutessa for its parts, but Lucy Lane protected the ship._

 

     **2818 - The Nexus**

    Lena sat on the edge of her bed, grabbing her tablet and opening it up. She opened an email she had received while asleep labelled ‘Pathfinder Squad’ and 7 profiles expanded into the room in front of her, including her own. “Hello there…” She whispered, taking a look through each profile, strengths and weaknesses, specialties.

    She read through Jess’s profile, glad her close friend was on her squad. Her happiness was cut down when she saw Alex Danvers within the group, the doctor who had stood toe-to-toe with her without blinking an eye. However, having someone who could put her back in her place would be beneficial. It would be a few days until she would have to meet with all of them face-to-face.

    There was a knock at the door and Lena pulled up security on her tablet and saw Kara staring into the camera, waving. Lena got up, tablet forgotten on the bed, and opened the door. “Kara? How… did you find my apartment? Let alone get past the security…”

    “Lena!” The questions were dodged the second Kara had her arms around her.

    She wheezed, and the noise caused Kara to pull back like she’d been burned, a look of guilt on her face. “Was that too much? I’m so sorry!”

    “Kara, it’s fine. You’ve certainly got some strength under that Initiative uniform.” Lena murmured, ‘ _and an amazing figure too’_. She tried her hardest not to let that thought be reflected on her face. “How are you? What are you doing here?”

    Kara smiled, closing the door behind her. “I just wanted to see you! I don’t really have any friends that are available to hang out, and I heard you were resting up, getting ready to go out on your big mission!” She sat down on the couch when Lena offered, her eyes curious.

    “Well, I don’t have any friends at all, except maybe my ex-assistant Jess. She’s on my squad, so that’s a positive.” Lena saw Kara’s face fall, “I’m okay, I’m not everyone’s favourite and I’ve accepted that. Even if they only dislike me by association.” She sighed, sitting back on the couch and looking at the display on the wall where her squad’s profiles were still slowly scrolling through. “The Luthor name has its pros and cons. I’m hoping to change that here in a new galaxy.”

    “I believe you can do it Lena, the Pathfinder role really suits you.” Kara smiled softly and placed a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “I wish I could join you on this big adventure you’re about to embark on.”

    Lena wished Kara was on her squad, and not a security and response specialist assigned to the Nexus. “We’re friends, right?”

    “Definitely!” Kara removed her hand from Lena’s shoulder and looked up at the display. “And all those people there will be your friends too. Or your enemies… being cooped up together in a ship for a while could swing either way.”

    The thought made Lena laugh, glad that Kara was being realistic with her. “I never thought about it like that, thank you Kara.”

    “Also, that doctor on your team, her profile picture makes her look like she wants to kill someone, not save them.” When Kara pointed it out, Lena burst into laughter, doubling over on the couch. She laughed even harder when Kara joined in, clutching at each other so they wouldn’t fall off the furniture.

    When the laughter subsided, Lena looked into Kara’s eyes, and saw how they shone a beautiful blue. They were so close, and her apartment felt like the temperature had risen dramatically. She cleared her throat and let out one last chuckle before sitting up, watching Kara sit back and take a deep breath.

    “I’m going to point that out when I see her next.” Lena sighed softly, her happiness quickly interrupted by Kara’s bracelet beeping.

    “Rao, I thought they wouldn’t notice…” Kara whispered, dismissing the notification.

    “Kara? Who wouldn’t notice what?”

    “That I’m not… currently doing my job?” She winced, seeing a look of exasperation take over Lena’s face. “Sorry?”

    “You should be saying sorry to your supervisor! You snuck away from work to see me?” Lena had to admit, her heart beat a little faster knowing that Kara had snuck away for her. “You better get back to work before you find yourself the first person unemployed in Andromeda!”

    Kara stood, wringing her hands nervously. “Uh… yeah okay, I should… I’ll go.” She breathed, heading towards the door.

    Lena pushed off the couch and caught Kara before she left, taking hold of her arm. “Kara, wait.” She gently pulled Kara back, turning her around and pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in Kara’s shoulder, “Thank you.” She whispered, despite the circumstances, she was glad that Kara had come to see her during her rest period. God knows when she would next have any free time to see friends, to have non-Pathfinder time.

    “Oh… you don’t have to thank me.” Kara breathed, hugging Lena back, her eyes wide.

    “I do. Now go, get back to work.” Lena pulled back and opened the door. She watched Kara go, dismissing the guards’ reactions when they suddenly had Kara walk past them away from the Pathfinder’s apartment when they had never seen her walk towards it.

    She closed the door and returned to her bed, sitting up against the headboard with her tablet and taking her time getting familiar with the profiles of her squad members. She preferred knowing all the details of the people she would be closely working with for the foreseeable future than to walk in with blind trust.

 

     _‘Incoming call._ ’

    Lena groaned, rolling over and blindly slapping at her bedside table, trying to turn off the annoying voice.

    ‘ _Incoming call._ ’

    “You’re about to be an outgoing console if you don’t shut up.” She finally managed to hit the device and the call picked up.

    ‘ _Call accepted.’_

    “Shit wrong button!” She hissed, sitting up and combing her hair out of her face. “Hello?”

     _“Pathfinder Luthor, am I interrupting something?”_

    “No, I just woke up. Who is this?”

     _“Lucy Lane, logistics division. I was told to give you a call this morning. Your ship is being brought to dock N-22 this morning, time for you to meet the squad!”_ Lucy sounded slightly excited, but Lena was glad to have someone as level-headed as her on the squad.

    “Okay, thank you Lucy. I’ll be down in ten.” She hung up and got ready, showered and pulled on her uniform. Today was a very important day. If everything went right, years down the line it would be a day remembered in history. Lena knew that seeing the ship and the squad didn’t necessarily mean they would be leaving the Nexus to start the mission, but Lena couldn’t wait to get out there. With the Nexus in some state of disarray, and with people everywhere waiting to be processed and allocated places to live and jobs to do, it felt like something would explode within her if she stayed.

    Dock N-22 was bustling. Not overly, but a comfortable amount of bustle. The people around her had jobs to do, places to be. A dance choreographed back on Earth playing out in a new galaxy. She headed towards the edge of the dock, seeing some blue, silver and black peeking out through the tops of trees planted around the area.

    The Lutessa was impressive to say the least. It stood around four storeys high, and almost 100 metres long. The tip jutted out, off the edge of the dock, and shone in the artificial sun. Blue lines ran down the sides and out onto the wings, the large ‘Lutessa’ title black and bold.

    “Quite a sight, huh?” Lucy walked up and stood next to Lena at the glass railing, leaning against it and looking out at the ship.

    “It’s beautiful.” Lena whispered, “To think the assholes at command were going to scrap it for parts…”

    “You can thank me for that later, I’ve had to pull a lot of strings to make this day happen now and not months later. I can’t wait to get off this glorified prison of a space base.” Lucy grumbled, pushing off the railing to face Lena. “Winn Schott was the lead designer of the ship, he’s on the squad so you’ll be meeting soon. Just doing final checks and loading all the cargo we need.”

    “How about on-world exploration?”

    “That right there, is your ride. Fully pimp-able, by the way. A little bird told me you’re quite the mechanic.” Lucy raised an eyebrow, pointing out the 6-wheeled vehicle currently being driven up the ramp into the cargo hold of the Lutessa. “We call it the Nomad.”

    Lena smiled, “It needs a paint job, first of all.” She laughed softly, “It definitely puts all the 4x4s back on Earth to shame. I can’t wait to go out there, today would be perfect.”

    “Well, let’s get down there and see what I can do.” Lucy led Lena down to the landing pad where the Lutessa was firmly planted, watching the dock workers running crates of cargo up the ramp into the belly of her ship. “Some squad members are already on board getting things ready, the others have yet to show up.”

    “It’s certainly a day for sleep-ins.” Lena shrugged and headed towards the ramp with Lena, heading up into the ship.

    “Hey! You two, it’s not ready to go, only essential workers are allowed on-board!” A voice came up behind them and Lena turned, feeling the shock reflected in her eyes at the sight of some worker telling them they couldn’t board the ship.

    “Lucy Lane, you’ve heard of me, right?” Lucy stood her ground, stepping in front of Lena and adopting what Lena would describe as a hostile power pose. Hands on hips. For a small woman she was incredibly imposing on the people around her.

    “Of course, it’s-“

    “It’s bullshit, that’s what it is. You know who this is? Pathfinder Luthor? This is _her_ ship. We’re going inside.”

    “Lucy it’s fine, we can come back later. I get that I’m only essential to the Lutessa when we’re about to leave.” Lena could fight her own battles but seeing Lucy fight this one was honestly… entertaining.

    “No, it’s not fine! This ship is big enough, the workers are only accessing the cargo bay. It’s not like there aren’t any other sections of the ship to appraise.” Lucy bristled, clenching her fists at her side.

    The worker shook his head, “Sorry ma’am, command has a list of those permitted onto the Lutessa at this time.” He tapped his tablet for emphasis.

    “What do you want, a family member out of cryo? Credits? A postcard from the first habitable world we find?” Lucy crossed her arms, determined to get her way.

    “Cryo? You can do that?”

    “I’m Lucy Lane. My career makes me a master at this kind of stuff. A lot of people owe me a lot of favours.” Lucy smirked and clapped when the worker nodded and added their names to the list. “Great, I’ll make some calls later. Pathfinder, let’s go get a closer look at your ship.”

 

    One ship tour later, Lena stood with Lucy at the round meeting table in the middle of the ship. Windows let them look out in a 360-degree view, and Lena was filled with excitement and relief that the ship really was all it was talked up to be.

    “Who was that earlier that we only got a glance of before he scampered off?” Lena asked Lucy, part of the reason she had wanted to get on the ship was to meet some squad members.

    “That was Winn. He’s probably hiding in a closet somewhere hyperventilating. He’s a big fan of yours. I don’t think he fully realised who he was designing the ship for.” Lucy laughed, sitting back and putting her feet up on the edge of the table.

    “And I thought the Pathfinder was the only one without professional courtesy.” Alex walked up the ramp to the meeting room, making her presence known.

    Lena sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. “My favourite doctor.” She groaned, but smiled remembering what Kara had pointed out about Alex’s profile picture.

    “What’s with the smile, am I growing on you already?” Alex sat down on the opposite side of the table, crossing her arms and sitting back.

    “No, just thought about your profile picture, and how it makes you look like a serial killer.” The comment made Lucy lose it, to the point she almost fell off her chair.

    Lena joined in with Lucy in laughing when Alex’s face slowly turned red. From rage or embarrassment, Lena wasn’t sure, but it was hilarious to see. Getting a reaction out of Alex under any circumstances was a win in her books.

    “Did I miss something?” The description of tall, dark, and handsome appeared, “I’m James Olsen, pilot. You probably already know that, but I was told to introduce myself to my Pathfinder.” Lena noticed that there was someone hiding behind James, or at least trying to.

    “Good to meet you James, who’s hiding behind you? Is that… Winn Schott?” Lena leaned to one side, trying to see around James.

    “S-She knows my name?! Oh dear lord… be cool, be cool.” Winn whispered, peeking out from behind James with a red face. “Hi! I’m Winn! Science officer and pilot! You’re Lena Luthor!” His voice was a little higher than normal and he flushed with embarrassment. “I-I mean Pathfinder Luthor! Sorry miss! Ma’am? Pathfinder ma’am? Oh god…”

    “Winn…” James mumbled, glancing at his friend.

    “Call me whatever you want. Pathfinder, Luthor, or a combination of both is fine.” Lena stood, walking over to James and Winn, shaking both of their hands firmly. Shaking Winn’s hand seemed to shake his entire body.

    “What are your first impressions of the Lutessa?” Winn asked nervously.

    Lena smiled, the widest she had in days, “It’s amazing. It’s state-of-the-art, everything. Thank you for designing it and pursuing its creation. I’m entranced with the drive core.

    “Yes! Someone who gets it. Jack couldn’t care less. Yeah, he’s the engineer that maintains it but he’s always thinking about his own ideas and not the big picture. You should meet him! Maybe talk some sense into him… that there’s no ‘I’ in team.” Winn rambled on, finally past his initial shyness.

    “Of course, Jack and I go way back. I just hope he’s happy to see me.” Lena started to head back to her seat when a throat cleared behind her.

    “Where’s my handshake?” Jess strode in, smiling and nodding at every member gathered. “Hi guys, I’m Jess Choi, your friendly neighbourhood squad member!”

    Lena went over to Jess and took one glance at her friend’s outstretched hand before deciding to pull her in for a hug. She had missed Jess, and the display of affection would paint a nice picture in the eyes of the other present squad members. When she pulled back, Jess was beaming. “So good to see you Jess.”

    “Likewise, Luthor.” Jess patted Lena on the shoulder before taking a seat. Lena followed suit.

    “Only Jack left to meet but I’m sure he’s busy down in the engine bay. I’ll check in with him later, because I want us to leave today. Lucy is making arrangements and getting everything in motion. Cargo is almost stocked and it looks like all accommodation is ready.” Lena went off her mental checklist, the one she had prepared the other day. “By the time afternoon rolls around, I’ll be on the bridge with Winn and James.”

    Murmurs of agreement from around the table were heard and Lena nodded, getting out of her seat and heading down to the Pathfinder’s quarters. She sat at her desk, looking through new emails. Some from squad members, some from command.

    Something was missing. Lena could feel it. The squad didn’t feel quite complete. She docked her bracelet beside her computer and reconfigured the code to track people she had messaged. She searched the layout of the Nexus for a certain signature.

    There, Kara Zor-El. The… crisis center? She was next to an emergency ship. Lena got up from her desk and practically ran off the ship, ignoring any calls from squad members as she went. She jumped on the cable car and rode it to the crisis center, pushing it to go as fast as it possibly could. When it arrived, she pushed through the doors before they fully opened, and she spotted Kara with a bag on her shoulder, climbing up into one of the ships.

    “Kara!” She yelled, watching the girl stop in her tracks. When she reached Kara, she looked nervous, scared, like she had been caught red-handed. “What are you doing here?”

    “I… leaving. If that’s okay with you.” Kara whispered, shifting the bag strap on her shoulder.

    “Not really, Kara. That’s not particularly okay with me. Are you _stealing_ this ship?” Lena gripped Kara’s arm, “Kara you can’t do that.”

    “Please don’t report me.” Kara looked pleadingly into Lena’s eyes. “I just… can’t stand it here.”

    Lena could sympathise. “I won’t. Because you’re my friend. And I wouldn’t have found you if I needed you for something.” Lena bit her bottom lip, letting Kara’s arm go when she dropped her bag. “I want you on my squad.”

    Kara’s eyes widened, “Me?” She breathed, “W-Why me?”

    “You’re a security and response specialist, with the training required of any Pathfinder squad member. You’re my friend, and I need someone like you with me. Out there.” Lena was almost begging. She would do anything not to lose Kara, a ray of sunshine in the darkness of space. “Please say yes.”

    “Out there?”

    Lena nodded.

    “Is there room for me? I thought your squad was full…” Kara may have just on accident found another, less hurtful way to get back to her planet. If she got to be with her friend longer too, it seemed like a win-win situation.

    “I’ll make room, I’m the Pathfinder.” Lena smiled, holding Kara’s hand and squeezing tightly. “I have Pathfinder stuff to do, and I’d like for you to be there. Helping, possibly.”

    Kara hugged Lena fiercely, as tight as she could without breaking the Pathfinder. “Lena I’d love to.” She whispered, pressing the side of her face to Lena’s. “As long as we forget this whole thing here never happened.” She pulled back, her face completely serious.

    Lena nodded, “Already forgotten. Welcome to the squad, Kara.”

    It was possibly the wrong thing to do, but it was already done. Lena added Kara’s name to the ship manifest, and to her squad list. She’d have done anything to get Kara on her side. They had become fast friends but Lena had a feeling that it was going to be a long, and incredible friendship. Plus, the blues of Kara’s eyes definitely belonged out there, looking out at the matching swirling blues of space.

    They returned to the Lutessa and Kara gasped when she got her first glimpse. “That’s _your_ ship?”

    “That’s _our_ ship, yes.” Lena smirked, taking a hold of Kara’s hand as they walked up the ramp into the Lutessa. They immediately caught the attention of all the squad members in the vicinity.

    Lucy raised an eyebrow, staring at their joined hands, already speculating the relationship between the two. She smirked, and had a feeling that this trip would be a very… dramatic one.

    “Everyone, this is Kara. She’s a security and response specialist, and my friend. Welcome her to the squad.” Lena laughed softly when Kara did a mock salute. “Lucy, get the ship prepped to disembark.”

    Kara was almost vibrating with excitement, looking around at everything. She felt honoured to be a part of Lena’s team, and above all, to be on the path to returning to Krypton. “I could sleep in the escape pod!” She gasped, looking to Lena. What she got was a look of exasperation.

    “Kara you’re not sleeping in the escape pod. I’ll arrange something.” Lena headed to the bridge with Kara in tow, the doors opening up to reveal the large open window, with Winn sitting at his station to the left, and James to the right. She walked up the middle, smiling when the galaxy map and Pathfinder controls lifted up from the floor into a kind of balcony rail.

    Kara looked over her shoulder at everything, waving at Winn and James. “This is so…” ‘ _primitive_ ’ “…sleek!” She whispered, a hand on Lena’s shoulder.

    Lena nodded, “Winn’s the mastermind behind it all. Okay, you two, let’s get out of here.” She placed a hand on her controls, selecting a set of coordinates. A thrill rushed through her when she felt the ship lift and heard the smooth hydraulics of the landing gear being pulled up into the belly of it.

    It felt liberating, the sheer amount of thrust behind them as they pulled out of Nexus airspace and out into unexplored space. She took Kara’s hand once again, more than ready for the journey to begin.


	4. discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I dedicate this chapter entirely to Nil

    Kara had been instructed by Lena to go around to all the squad members and properly introduce herself. She was happy to do so, and had met some very lovely people. Her favourite so far was Lucy. She was fun, extremely nice, and very serious about her job while still being laid back. Kara could definitely relate. She only had one last person to meet, and that was Alex Danvers down in the medical bay. She walked in and spotted Alex working away on something with what looked like incredible dedication.

    “Hello!”

    “What do you wan- who the hell are you?” Alex tapped her bracelet, ready to call the Pathfinder or any other squad member to escort this complete stranger off the ship.

    She put her hands up in surrender, eyes wide, getting hit by the full force of Alex’s loud and defensive demeanour. The doctor at first glance certainly reflected that serial killer-y profile picture of hers. Hopefully her own outgoing and friendly personality would be able to disarm Alex.

    “Hey-oh, you’ve been down here the entire time, that explains the hostility! No need to call for help, I’m Lena’s friend! And… now a squad member, I think.” Kara shrugged and sat down on one of the benches, looking at Alex with nothing but friendly intentions.

    “None of that answers my question.” Alex grumbled, turning back around and resuming the work on her tablet, documenting the continuous stream of vitals belonging to all the squad members. She assumed she would have to add another set of vitals to the mix with the arrival of this… mystery.

    Alex had always loved a good mystery. It’s why she had wanted to become a doctor in the first place. Back in the Milky Way with so many different alien species coming to visit Earth, she had made it her mission to find ways to help every one of them, to cater to their differences, and solve the mysteries of their physiology. A squad full of humans wasn’t particularly interesting to her, but she hoped that when they really started exploring worlds that they would come across undiscovered life forms, other aliens she could learn all about and be able to help. Medicine, for Alex, was her way of building bridges. Also, she just loved how it felt to have people crawling to her asking for her help and her opinions on medical issues.

    She may have already become a master at the human physiology but she really wanted to know what made this ball of energy tick. She was quickly pulled from her train of thought by said ball of energy.

    “Oh, right, I’m Kara! Lena said I should go around and meet anyone who isn’t yet aware that I’m here and part of the crew.” Kara chewed on her bottom lip, watching Alex’s tense frame leaning over her desk, her eyes scanning rapidly over data on the displays. “You’re my last stop, and I thought ‘why not leave the best ‘til last?’” She laughed softly, “Or maybe leave the scariest to last, your profile picture is scary.”

    Alex groaned, falling back in her chair and staring at the ceiling. “You too!? This day just keeps getting better.”

    “Sarcasm?” Kara whispered, her response a strong glare from Alex.

    “I’d like to perform a physical on you, add your vital signs to the squad’s. Is that okay?” Alex asked, getting up and going over to a nearby cart to get some equipment. Electrodes and various electronic devices.

    “Sure! I hope everything is okay.” Kara muttered, knowing that everything _would_ be okay, given her powers. She frowned when Alex seemed to pull a syringe from thin air and quickly went in to get a sample of her blood to document. However, when the needle hit her skin, the metal bent, almost bouncing off her.

    Kara grabbed Alex’s forearm, the arm holding the needle, the needle that was now bent at a 90-degree angle. Alex’s eyes were wide with surprise, staring at Kara’s unmarked, un-pricked skin. “I really hope you practice patient confidentiality.” She whispered, staring at Alex.

    “I really hope you come in peace.” Alex’s voice wavered slightly, the first break in her solid façade making its appearance.

    “That’s such a bad cliché.” Kara huffed, “Of course I come in peace. _If_ you can keep this a secret, at least for now.” She became serious, needing Alex to cooperate. If Lena found out, or anyone else on the squad for that matter, she didn’t know what would go down – but it most likely wouldn’t be in her favour.

    “What’s in it for me?”

    “I’ll help you perform physicals on me. I’m not from the Milky Way so you will be the first doctor to perform tests on an Andromedian species. How’s that?” Kara let go of Alex’s arm, but still watched for the doctor’s next move with caution.

    Alex smiled and put the needle down. “Like I just won the fucking lottery.” She looked Kara up and down, wondering what on earth – or more accurately, in _Andromeda_ – Kara could be. Appearing completely human externally, she could only dream of what was going on inside.

    “Great! I like you, Dr Danvers.”

    “You know nothing about me, I’ve been treating you like shit, what _are_ you?” Alex raised an eyebrow, completely baffled by this being that seemed to have bones made of happiness. She wouldn’t be surprised if she opened her up and found kittens and puppies inside. “Also, you can call me Alex, if you’re angling to befriend me.”

    “I’m someone who sees the good in people, and I’ve seen yours Alex.” Kara smiled innocently, “You care.”

    “Pssshh, do not.”

    “You do!”

    “Ugh, alright, fine. Go get me a list of things I’ll need in order to perform a physical on you.” Alex picked her tablet back up, tapping at a few alerts that had popped up. “Don’t make me wait, go on!” She glared at Kara who was still sitting there, watching her.

    Kara got to her feet and left the medical bay, and headed down the corridor to the Pathfinder’s quarters to get started on writing up a list of the things Alex required. Hopefully everything they needed would already be on the ship. They couldn’t risk asking for certain parts and blowing the whole operation.

 

    “The FTL system is… completely meshed with the drive core.” Lena whispered, throwing up a window of statistics from her tablet to the big screen in the engine room.

    Jack stuck his head out from underneath a spare thrust ignition unit he was working on. “Yeah. It’s shockingly simple.”

    “It makes the shift between normal thrust and FTL speed instantaneous. There’s no need to wait for anything to warm up!” Lena gasped, flicking through the documents of Jack’s earlier test runs on the drive core. “It’s beautiful.”

    “My life’s work. And Winn’s.” Jack returned to his thrust ignition system. “Pass the wrench?”

    Lena grabbed the only wrench she could see on the worktable and handed it to Jack where his hand stuck out from underneath the hunk of metal. “If you ever need an extra hand… y’know, actually building things instead of handing tools over…” She laughed softly, “Like one of those magician’s assistants.”

    Jack got the last part installed and wheeled out from underneath, getting to his feet. “Definitely, I’ve been designing a new battery for the Nomad, you could help me with that. I know you were involved heavily in the battery stuff L-Corp did back in the Milky Way.”

    “The battery minimisation and extension, yeah. We made a few breakthroughs.” Lena shrugged off the accomplishments, feeling awkward about them. The way she had left L-Corp still didn’t sit too well with her, even after a couple of years. Technically 600 and a couple.

    “A few? Have you seen how thin the bezels on tablets are getting these days? Your batteries hide in those things and give them power for weeks!” Jack laughed, wiping his hands off on a towel.

    Back on Earth, Lena and Jack had been co-workers. Or something like it. They were barely friends, but definitely bonded over their love for engineering and hardware. They had almost dated, but it had been incredibly awkward, and had been the night Lena had decided she was all about the ladies. To infinity and beyond. Jack hadn’t been surprised at the revelation, but he had been supportive.

     _“Jack, I might be gay.” Lena whispered, standing by his side outside the restaurant they had just come out of._

     _Jack huffed and pulled his jacket on, “No shit.” He smiled, “Whoever you end up with is going to be one lucky lady.”_

     _“You’re not… upset?” She frowned, not at all expecting this response from her co-worker, the man she had worked alongside for at least a year._

     _“What were you expecting, theatrics? A four-act play on how I’m heartbroken? I’m not, by the way. I felt a vibe, I just wasn’t sure what it was until you said it out loud.”_

    To have that support and past with her on the ship felt nice, and added another one to the tally of squad members that she could easily form a solid friendship with.

    Lena smirked, looking up at the drive core, watching how the air around it inside the containment chamber seemed to move like liquid. The visible movement of energy surrounding the spherical core. “I try to stay humble.”

    “If I were you? I’d be the least humble person alive. Former L-Corp CEO _and_ human Pathfinder? Thou shalt bow before me.” Jack joked, tapping his bracelet to accept an incoming call. “Schott, how’s it going up there?”

     _“Like a hot knife through butter, just checking in on how the latest upgrade is holding up.”_

    “It’s perfect, obviously.” Jack glanced at Lena, smirking just a little. Winn and Jack made an exceptional team, and Lena only wished she could have been a part of the amazing advances and designs they had executed.

     _“Sweet. Happy sailing!”_ Winn hung up and Lena laughed.

    “Happy _sailing_?”

    Jack removed the utility belt from around his waist and let the heavy equipment land on the worktable. “It’s a ship, we don’t conform to spaceship standards.”

    Lena sighed, “Fair enough.”

    “How’s that new girl you added to the squad last minute? She settling in okay? I heard a few members weren’t so happy about it.” Jack looked to Lena with a bit of worry, hoping the Pathfinder knew what she was doing.

    “I think I made it clear that anyone who had a problem would get a swift kick to the ass.” Lena folded her tablet and put it back in her pocket. “I should go check on her, thanks for reminding me. I could spend forever in here.”

    “I know what you mean. Have fun!” Jack sat at the worktable and pulled a bag of nuts from one of the drawers, kicking back and taking a snack break.

 

    The moment Lena wasn’t distracted by anything, her thoughts went straight to Kara. She had sent the girl on a mission to go and introduce herself to all the squad members, and hoped it was going well. She walked around, peeking her head around corners looking for her. Eventually she remembered that her own quarters were a feasible hiding spot for Kara. She opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her before taking a look around.

    “There you are.” Lena spotted Kara at her desk scribbling away with pen and paper. “What’s up?”

    “Oh, just writing down some stuff for Alex.” Kara quickly folded the piece of paper up and tucked it into her pocket. “Nothing interesting. She’s really thorough with those physicals, right?”

    Lena nodded and sat down on the couch, crossing her legs and resting her arms along the top of the cushions. “How did meeting the squad go? Any stragglers still protesting your appearance that I need to beat up?”

    “Lena!”

    “What? I wasn’t being serious.” Lena smiled, “For the most part.”

    Kara crossed her arms and stared at Lena. She eventually surrendered and smiled, “Lucy is my favourite.” She remembered her conversation with the logistics specialist, “She’s very nice, fun, extremely trustworthy.”

    “I thought I was your favourite.” Lena pouted, earning a laugh from Kara. It was music to her ears. “As your Pathfinder, I’m automatically your favourite.”

    “As my _friend_ , you’re definitely my favourite. But I’m talking about people in the squad aside from the Pathfinder.” Kara wanted to make sure that Lena knew where she stood with her. The answer: miles ahead of the rest.

    Lena didn’t want to just be Kara’s _friend_. That much she knew was true. She felt like an idiot for having what felt like a schoolyard crush on her, but she saw the emotion as strength she could harness in any situation, instead of a weakness or vulnerability. Kara was strong, beautiful. However, at moments Lena could see straight through the bubbly façade and get a peek of what laid underneath. She wondered how she could get that part of Kara out to play.

    “James and Winn are the cutest! They’re obviously best friends, they’re having a lot of fun up there on the bridge! Jack was nice, I can tell you two definitely get along.” Kara continued rattling off her opinions of the squad to Lena, knowing the feedback would be helpful. Pathfinders needed to know how their squad was getting along in order to resolve any possible conflicts. “Jess is so sweet! She challenged me to a sparring session, I suppose she wants to see what I’m made of.” Kara flexed mockingly, laughing.

    The display of strength and the way Kara’s clothes hugged her almost made Lena choke on air. “I feel like I’d be a better judge.”

    “Well, you’ll have to beat her to the ring!” Kara laughed again, relaxing back into the desk chair. “I visited Alex last, and at first she scared me, but I think we got along. She did a physical, everything looks great. I’m cleared for space exploration!”

    Lena smiled, hearing that Kara was cleared for space exploration only made her more excited to get out there, knowing she could take Kara with her. She moved some of the pillows on the couch around and patted the seat beside her, glancing out the window at the stars as Kara took the cue to move from the desk chair to sit next to Lena on the couch.

    They sat together for a moment, enjoying the peace, the sounds of the ship almost humming a song as it moved through space. The stars slowly passed, and Lena suddenly felt humbled. She felt privileged to be there, to be in the position she was in, and to have someone like Kara by her side. An unexpected friend and someone she could really confide in.

    “I’m really glad you’re here.” Lena admitted in a whisper, feeling Kara’s soft gaze lock onto her. She took a hold of Kara’s hand, squeezing gently. “You’ve never judged me based on my past… on any of the stories linked to my family. I can’t express in words how that feels.”

    “Lena…” Kara breathed, moving closer to the Pathfinder, entwining their fingers. She pushed a few of the pillows between them away, gazing into bright green eyes. “It may be high on the clichéd sayings scale, but actions speak louder than words. Anything anyone could say about you means nothing compared to what you do, what you use your abilities for. Right here and now.”

    Lena’s eyes filled with unshed tears and she broke eye contact, staring down at her own lap, seeing their hands linked together in the corner of her eye. The sight – albeit blurry – made her heart sing. The warmth that filled her as a direct result of Kara’s words and kindness felt so good, so freeing.

    “The Lena I know is fearless, intelligent, a great leader and friend. Everyone on the squad looks up to you, even Alex.” When Kara heard Lena scoff she let go of Lena’s hand and moved even closer, wrapping an arm around her and holding her close. “Trust me.”

    She swallowed hard, blinking back tears and sinking into the warmth of Kara’s embrace. “I always will.” She whispered, her voice breaking. She blushed, resting her head on Kara’s shoulder and reaching for her free hand, still wanting one to hold. She almost sighed with relief when Kara took up Lena’s hand again, the girl’s fingers easily filling the empty spaces between Lena’s.

    They stayed like that for a short while, relaxing, Kara silently supporting Lena. The truth was that Lena felt so alone, had always felt that way, directly because of people she had let in and trusted that had let her down, betrayed or abandoned her. Kara had singlehandedly disarmed her, torn down every wall, and Lena felt like it was exactly what she needed. These moments with Kara filled that emptiness, the loneliness that crept up on her time and time again.

    So, sensing this within Lena, Kara stayed and gently rubbed circles on Lena’s back and at times squeezed her hand to remind Lena of her presence. She would be there for Lena, for whatever she needed. Kara didn’t want to develop feelings for Lena but she could feel it happening, and so far she wasn’t denying them from growing. How could she? Lena with her captivating green eyes, the timbre of her _voice_ , the strong, sure way the girl carried herself as the Pathfinder. Kara was addicted to her confidence, her sincerity, to the way Lena made her feel all warm inside.

    Kara didn’t expect Lucy to come barging in on the private moment, causing Lena to tense up and sit up straight, out of Kara’s arms.

    “We have a problem. Need you on the bridge, Luthor.” Lucy winced as the ship lurched to one side and threw Lucy against the doorframe.

    “Kara, stay here, and be _careful_.” Lena had to stress the last word, knowing there were quite a few things in the quarters that could come flying off the shelves and cause a lot of damage on impact. At Kara’s nod, Lena followed Lucy up the ladders to the bridge. When she entered the room, she noticed James was practically fighting the controls while Winn shouted out collision warnings. However, out the window, there was nothing to be seen.

    “Left! Sharp right! Shit!” Winn yelled, pulling up a different view of the space in front of them, illustrated by the Lutessa’s scanning systems. It looked like an asteroid field, except it wasn’t visible to the human eye.

    “James, I trust you’ve got this.” Lena made her way to the galaxy map, having to adjust her balance slightly whenever James executed a rather sporadic manoeuvre. The pilot remained silent and focused, and Lena considered that perhaps no news was good news.

    Suddenly, out of nowhere, the empty space in front of them was filled, and every single alarm on the ship related to an impending collision went haywire.

    “What is _that_?” Lena yelled over various alarms as the ship tilted forward slightly, making Lena fall forward to lean on the galaxy map. Out in front of them appeared to be a planet that had practically appeared out of thin air, and they were being dragged in by its gravitational field. “Winn, what does the surface and atmosphere look like?”

    Winn played around with a few displays, pulling up any and all the statistics he could find on the planet using the Lutessa’s scanning system. “Uhh… jackpot! We’ve got a tasty dish of carbon-based, simple life forms. A hearty oxygen atmosphere and potentially stunning landmarks and scenery!”

     _This_ is what Lena came to do, this is the feeling she had wanted to experience. Space at its finest, surprising and dangerous. The whole point of the Andromeda Initiative had been to find habitable worlds and they had potentially found one. A planet that hadn’t even shown up on their preliminary scans.

    “It’s… that has to be too good to be true, right?” Lena fell backwards when the ship swayed back to an even keel. She stood and rubbed the spot where she’d landed, checking out the position of this paradise planet relative to the rest of the cluster. “Andromeda must be full of surprises, and we’ve just met one of them. We’ll have to mark the count of planets in each system as approximate for now.”

    Lena marked down the planet to explore later, they still had to stay on course to check out the first golden world. At least if it didn’t pan out, they had something to fall back on. “James, pull out of the gravitational field and get us back on track. We’re still heading for habitat seven.”

    “Can do, Pathfinder.” James placed both hands on the displays and pushed the thrusters to full, turning them away from the planet and getting them out of Paradise planet’s space. “We’ve got a handle on it, we’ll keep you updated.”

    “Thanks, you two. Amazing work.” Lena pushed off from the galaxy map and took a moment to grab one of her pistols from the loadout bay and a snack from the kitchen. She hummed softly, heading back into her quarters to where she’d left Kara waiting. The girl hadn’t moved an inch. Lena almost sighed, in the dreamy way. She was a vision against the backdrop of stars, nestled on her couch surrounded by a dozen pillows.

    “You’re back!” Kara smiled, clutching a pillow to her chest and hugging it. “Is everything okay?”

    “We’re… yes, we’re fine.” Lena laughed softly, she almost couldn’t believe herself, how she was acting so soft and practically fawning over this girl she had met just a handful of weeks ago. ‘Calm the _hell_ down, Luthor’ She thought to herself as she walked over to join Kara.

    Kara watched Lena, putting down her pillow and freeing up a spot right next to her. “Please say the snack is for me, and not the gun.”

    “Oh! Yes, I thought we could share, I just wanted to do some work on my pistol.” Lena placed the bowl of mixed nuts between them and pulled the coffee table over, grabbing some of her tools to disassemble the pistol and clean some of the parts.

    She decided to keep the paradise world a secret from Kara, to give her time to come up with a plan to impress her, to organise an outing on that world for just the two of them. She hadn’t brought Kara out just to see the stars. She wanted to share everything with this beautiful girl, from snacks to entire systems. The paradise world included. There was something about Kara that made Lena just want to be the best that she could be.

    Lena reached for the bowl and paused when she felt her hand brush against Kara’s, her hand currently buried to grab a handful. It felt electric, the warmth that moved through her. She looked at Kara and noticed the girl mirroring the blush she presumed was on her own face. “Sorry.” She whispered, biting at her bottom lip, pulling her hand away.

    Kara grabbed her handful of nuts, “D-don’t be, they’re really good.” She laughed lightly, sitting back and watching Lena work on her pistol intently. Her heart felt like it was going full throttle. Lena was stunningly beautiful, incredibly intelligent and suited to the role she filled. It truly felt like an honour to be on the ship, especially with Lena.

    With the pistol cleaned and a box of spare parts fetched, Lena resumed work on upgrading her gun. She almost jumped out of her skin when she suddenly felt warmth at her side. She did gasp, softly, when she turned her head and saw that Kara had closed her eyes and nuzzled up against her side to nap. She was insanely beautiful, incredibly peaceful. Kara mumbled softly in her sleep and Lena almost groaned at how cute it was.


	5. feet on the ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena, Lucy and Kara have their first on-world experience, on a mission to determine whether their assigned planet is habitable or not. (tw for brief mention of blood)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This nice juicy chapter is dedicated to sten! (Also, I made habitat seven be Eos instead of the planet they crash into in the actual video game, because it fit what I wanted to do better)

    Lena stood and walked up to Kara. She went to wave a hand in front of Kara’s face but a second too soon Kara had grabbed her hand and suddenly those blue eyes were looking into hers. “Hi…” Lena blushed, shoving both hands in her pockets when Kara released her hand. “Sorry.”

    “Don’t worry, I was just enjoying the warmth.” Kara breathed, “Are you feeling okay? We slept on the couch after all.”

    “A little stiff, but I’m fine.” Lena smiled and went over to the desk area, opening the mini-fridge and grabbing a drink. “Hungry?” She threw one to Kara who caught it with amazing reflexes. Colour Lena impressed. She turned back to the desk and leaned over a few pieces of paper she had lying around, one of them was a physical copy of the ‘First Contact Protocol’.

    “What’s that?” Kara walked over and stood next to Lena, reading the title of the document. “Expecting to meet a new species today?”

    “I’m on the fence, considering if we do meet a new species they’re more likely to be hostile towards us.” Lena frowned, “Statistics don’t lie.” She didn’t want to seem cowardly, but she wasn’t worrying just for herself. She had a squad to look after.

    Kara gently took hold of Lena’s free hand and pulled her to the couch. She sat down and Lena joined her without hesitation. “Whatever happens, you won’t be alone.” Kara held her hand.

    Lena could feel Kara’s confidence through their joined hands. “I trained for this. I just need to keep remembering that.” She sighed, meeting Kara’s eyes.

    “It’s easy to be distracted by the exciting parts.” Kara smiled, “I’m excited to explore a new planet!” She laughed softly, hoping her good mood would rub off on Lena.

    She was constantly surprised by Kara, by her positivity and her ability to calm people down, including herself. Lena could take one look at Kara and almost instantly forget about everything else, the world would just drop away. It was just Kara and her, sitting there, grounding each other.

    “We should have a thing.”

    “A-a… a thing? What… kind of thing?” Kara was caught off-guard, her mind going places it shouldn’t have. Places that were soft, warm, and _close_.

    “Like a handshake or something, that’s what friends do, right?” Lena let go of Kara’s hand and held her wrist instead. She took her other hand and pressed their fists together, then bumped her fist to the top of Kara’s, then did the same to the bottom. “Ever done one before?”

    “Have _you_?” Kara whispered, trying not to laugh at Lena’s attempt to make a secret handshake. She blushed instead. “Here, let me.” She went through some moves with Lena until they came up with a short but sweet handshake.

    They bumped their fists together, touched the backs of their hands together, linked pinkies and then without having discussed it, Kara placed a hand at the back of Lena’s head and pulled her close, touching their foreheads together gently. She giggled, seeing the look on Lena’s face and how her cheeks reddened slightly.

    Lena stifled a gasp when Kara had finished the handshake in an unexpected way. She was so close to Kara, staring into her eyes. She could feel the girl’s breath ghost over her lips. She almost lost control, almost gave into the urge to kiss Kara. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity.

    “I like it.” She whispered. Not only did she like the intimacy of it, and the strength of their friendship the handshake represented, she also liked feeling like a kid again. She felt giddy, like her stomach was full of bubbles.

     _“Luthor, you have an incoming vid-call from Director J’onnz.”_ Lucy’s voice came over the PA system and Lena groaned. She reluctantly pulled away from Kara and got up.

    “Go, it’s probably important.” Kara smiled up at Lena, knowing they would have plenty of time later on to relax. The mission came first.

    Lena nodded, tidying up her desk and the ‘First Contact’ documents before leaving Kara alone in her own quarters. She went up to the meeting area and accepted the incoming video call from Director J’onnz. “Director, what can I do for you?”

     _“I’m calling about deadlines. Your duty isn’t without limitation, of course. I expect word from you about habitat seven by the end of the week, although I hope I get it sooner. People are getting restless, waiting to be taken to colonies.”_ J’onn sounded tense and Lena looked to the holographic Director, nodding.

    “Okay, end of the week. We’re approaching habitat seven today, and I’ll get a team together and on the ground to do reconnaissance.”

     _“Excellent. You’re doing a fine job, Lena. Keep it up.”_

    “I plan on it, thank you sir.” Lena folded her arms across her chest, leaning back against the railing.

     _“Also, I wasn’t sure if you were aware, but there is an abandoned research facility on habitat seven. People from the Nexus tried to inhabit it and perform research on the ecosystems.”_ The Director explained, and Lena immediately took down the coordinates being sent through.

    She hummed softly, “Great, we’ll land near there and check things out. Thanks for the information. I’ll get to work.” She hung up and took the coordinates to the bridge for James to find a path down through the atmosphere to the landing zone.

 

    “What are you?” Lucy sat down next to Kara, staring at the girl intently while she fiddled with a pen, impressively twirling it between her fingers.

    Kara almost choked on air, sitting upright. “U-uh… I’m a human?” She stared back at Lucy, wondering what had prompted this interrogation.

    “Well, duh! Like are you a biotic? Got any metal bits?” Lucy prodded Kara’s thigh with the pen, smiling brightly at the newcomer. “Anything that I should know about before we hit the ground running?”

    “Why would we be running?” Kara’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what Lucy was playing at. Lucy was her favourite, she trusted her, but sometimes the things she said just didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

    Lucy sat back on the bench and stared out the window at the planets that surrounded them. “Running, walking, anything can happen down there. I’m logistics, remember? I do logic, probabilities, strategies out in the field.”

    Kara shrugged, “I’m not a biotic, and I don’t have any metal… bits.” She laughed softly, remembering the robots back on her home planet, and how, when she was younger, she had drop-kicked one in the groin to test the response. There had been a delayed robotic groan, which had made Kara absolutely lose it. Her parents had found her hysterical on the floor a few minutes later.

    “Nice! I have a metal thigh. Want to see?” Lucy didn’t wait for an answer before pulling her pant leg up to reveal the metal that began just below her knee. “I wanted to get the other thigh done to even things out so I didn’t just have one super strong thigh but no-one would allow it. One day though… I’ll have the power to crush rocks between my legs.” Lucy smirked, letting her pant leg fall back down.

    “Wow… may I ask what happened to your thigh?” Kara ignored the itch she felt to use her x-ray vision to check out how exactly the metal thigh worked, and how it had been accepted by Lucy’s body.

    “I was in the war shortly before the Initiative left. An alien rifle shot a hole right through. Luckily I was important enough to have people work to get me walking again.” She looked to Kara, “The war didn’t just take my thigh, it also took both of my parents and my older sister. The same way it took the Pathfinder’s father. Her brother was found working with the enemy, so he was treated as a war criminal.”

    Kara gasped softly, hearing what had happened to Lena’s family. “Oh… I didn’t know.”

    “Oh, shit, I probably shouldn’t have told you that. That stuff is something she probably should’ve told you herself.” Lucy sighed, “I’m sorry.”

    “I won’t say anything.” Kara whispered, “I lost people too.” She watched a moon drift past, ‘well, they lost me’ she thought about her family and once again ended up thinking about if they had gone out searching for her. If they had given up. Either way, after 600 years, Kara expected all of her family to dead. Perhaps her home would still be around, but she didn’t have a way to find out, yet.

    After a moment of silence, Lucy spoke up. “Alright, enough sad stuff, lets go and get you fitted into some armour. I know for a fact we’re the two the Pathfinder’s picking to go out on reconnaissance.”

    Kara followed Lucy to the loadout station where they started trying out armour and picking out weaponry that they hoped wouldn’t come into play.

     _“Pathfinder, ready when you are.”_ Winn’s voice came over the comms and Lena nodded.

    “Kara, Lucy, with me.” Lena picked up her rifle and pistol, putting them over her shoulders to the magnetic holsters on her back. “If we come across anything, leave First Contact to me. We’re going to the abandoned research facility first.”

    When they were all finally suited up, they put their helmets on and walked down the ramp of the Lutessa. Lena’s feet hit the sandy ground of habitat seven and she took a deep breath. “Gravity is slightly stronger here.” She checked that Lucy and Kara were behind her before getting in the deployed Nomad, driving over the edge of the cliff they were parked on.

    “Jesus! Pathfinder!” Lucy almost squealed when the Nomad was suddenly vertical, falling straight towards the ground.

    “Calm down, Lane.” Lena laughed, using the thrusters to level out the vehicle before they hit the ground. The hydraulics caught them and Lena engaged the all-terrain mode on the wheels to better handle the sandy landscape. They followed a slightly worn trail into the research facility grounds. There was some kind of field around the place that was filtering the air and increasing the habitability of the area.

     _“Those fields were developed from lost L-Corp blueprints.”_ Winn spoke over comms, seeing what they were seeing from the bodycams and the Nomad’s cameras.

    Lena nodded, “The design did look familiar. I suppose that means it’s safe to get out.” She parked in front of the main building. “Keep your helmets on, in case we get jumped by anything.”

    Kara used her x-ray vision, one ability that she could use without it being obvious. They were alone. She did however, spot one building that had a bunch of abandoned crates filled with specimens and research. “I think we should check out that building over there.” Kara pointed, and both sets of eyes were on her.

    “Why not the main building?” Lena asked.

    “That one says ‘Research’ on it.” Kara looked between Lucy and Lena, “There must be some good stuff in there, right?”

    “I envy your eyesight. You read that from all the way over here?” Lucy shook her head in slight disbelief before following Lena to the other side of the facility, towards the research building.

    Kara shrugged and followed them, a bounce in her step. She wanted so badly to fly, to test out all her powers that she had hidden for so long, but she couldn’t risk it. Not only would she risk Lena and Lucy finding out about her, she could risk their lives by drawing unnecessary attention to them.

    “Damn, it’s locked.” Lucy knocked on the door and smirked at the other two before bursting out laughing. “How funny would it be if someone answered?”

    Lena shook her head and moved up to the door, using her bracelet to hack the door. Once open, they moved inside. Kara and Lucy followed Lena inside with their pistols at the ready. The building was indeed abandoned, and the crates that Kara had seen were all there under a thick covering of dust. “Wow, all of this stuff left behind. I wonder what happened here.” Lena brushed off some of the dust to read the manifests, finding out what was inside the crates.

    “What have we got?” Lucy holstered her pistol and joined Lena in brushing dust off, sneezing when some got on her nose. She glared at Kara when she heard a giggle behind her.

    “Looks like specimens, samples of some plants that are able to thrive on this planet. This one contains a dead bug.” Lena pressed a button and one side of the crate became transparent, showing the deceased bug being preserved within.

    “Gross.” Lucy frowned, putting her face to the glass. She screamed when Kara suddenly placed her hands on her shoulders. “Hey!” She went to push Kara away but Kara was on the floor, laughing and pointing up at her.

    Lena smirked, finding Kara’s laughter and antics adorable, when she should have been disciplining her. “Alright you two, get it together.” She pressed the button again, the window into the crate becoming opaque again. “Winn? Mark this building for pickup.”

     _“The entire building?”_

    “Yes, the entire building. It’s full of research and specimens. It’ll give the scientists back on the Nexus something to do.” Lena used her bracelet to scan the serial numbers on the crates, documenting the find. “I’m going to take one crate though, for Winn. Being the science officer, I’m sure he’d love to get his hands on something other than the Lutessa’s controls.”

    Kara had finally calmed down and helped Lena scan the crates while Lucy stood on guard at the door. “This place is familiar to me.” Kara mumbled, catching Lena’s attention.

    “How so?” Lena probed, climbing up onto the pile of crates to get the ones up the top.

    “The redness of the sand… the rock formations.” Kara frowned, remembering the redness of Krypton, the dried-up oceans. Krypton had been a mess before she had been taken. The planet had been falling apart, and her people had been working around the clock to come up with answers and solutions.

    “You lived in the desert?” Lena jumped down and checked out the consoles that littered the place, looking through the ones that still worked, trying to get a handle on what the people in the research facility had been working on.

    “Something like that.” Kara muttered, finishing up with the crates. “All done, what’s next?”

    Lena waved a hand, leading them out of the research building and back into view of the brutal sun. Thankfully their suits were advanced enough to have built-in air conditioning and heating. “Maps show a distinct road that I want to drive on. It does a loop around the area, and should be good for reconnaissance.” They got back in the Nomad and Lena drove off towards the road, through the atmosphere-altering fields. “It should be okay for us to get out of the Nomad beyond the fields, but not for too long.”

    Lucy looked out the window at the scenery. It was a huge dust bowl. Rocks, sand, dirt. “Wasn’t the description of this place ‘a tropical oasis’?”

    “A lot can change in 600 years.” Kara sighed, looking out of her own window. She spotted one of the bugs like the one in the crate and she raised an eyebrow. She gasped when it spat something at the Nomad. “I think those bugs spit acid.” Kara spoke louder for Lena who was driving up front.

    “I’ll stay away then. The Nomad should be able to handle it, anyway.” Lena turned on the reinforced shields, just in case.

    “Luthor, what do you think about the place so far?” Lucy kept their comms open so people back on the Lutessa would be looped in. After a few hours of driving around they had gathered knowledge about certain organisms, including the acid-spitting bugs, and of the terrain. There were some spots that they weren’t able to drive, due to the high temperature. The planet also had high levels of radiation.

    “The planet requires those fields in order to make habitable spaces. Outside of those fields… if the radiation doesn’t get you first, the heat will. It’s hard to tell when you’re about to head into a particularly hot or irradiated spot, you only know when you’re inside it. Water is extremely rare, so the viability isn’t high enough to make it colonisable.” Lena pointed the Nomad back towards the Lutessa, confident in her assessment but disappointed in the results of the reconnaissance.

    Kara frowned. She understood that this planet had been assigned to the humans to colonise, and that the preliminary scans had shown them a planet much lusher than this one. There were little signs around the place that at one point the scans must have been correct. It looked like the planet had gone through something similar to Krypton, everything had dried out.

    “That certainly _doesn’t_ help with the viability!” Lucy pointed at something out of the window, straight in front of them.

    Lena threw the wheel, dodging whatever Lucy had pointed out by a narrow margin. The car spun in the sand and came to stop, facing the back of the… “What the _fuck_ is _that_?” Lena breathed, her chest constricting with growing anxiety. It stood the way a human would, and it certainly wasn’t wearing any armour to protect from the heat or radiation, but it had a sort of exoskeleton, and the rest was skin - a shade of green that made Lena feel uneasy.

    “Move!” Lucy yelled when the _thing_ turned to face them, and pointed a gun straight at the Nomad, as if it could see straight through the windshield to the three of them inside.

    She didn’t need to be told twice, Lena threw the Nomad into gear and pushed the pedal to the floor. The wheels fought for purchase in the sand before launching them forwards.

    “Not straight _at_ it, you idiot!” Lena winced when Lucy screamed in her ear and hit her on the shoulder particularly hard.

    “Fuck the ‘First Contact Protocol’.” She growled, having every intention to run it over. “The only protocol I’m following right now is the one that keeps us _alive_.”

     _“Pathfinder? Is everything okay? Your vitals are all over the place.”_ Winn came over the comms, voice laden with worry. _“Dr Danvers is concerned, to say the least.”_

    “How cute.” Lena mumbled, “We have first contact, if you hadn’t already guessed from what you’re seeing through the cameras!”

    Suddenly about three different voices battled for dominance over the comms. A few seconds passed before Lena had to butt in and yell at them all to shut up and calm down. “You all seem to be forgetting that _we’re_ out here with this _thing_ and not you, so please, do your jobs. Winn, get us-“ Lena was silenced as about twenty more of the aliens showed up out of nowhere. “Oh, _shit_.”

    Kara gripped at the door handle and had her other hand on her pistol. She knew exactly what the aliens were, but speaking up about anything would blow her cover. If it came down to it, at least she knew how to take them out and save the team.

    Lucy was wide-eyed and practically bouncing around the cabin, having forgone the seatbelt, prone to Lena’s evasive driving. “There, a clearing! We can leave them behind, escape to the ship.” When Lucy got her head back on straight, the logistics specialist came out to play.

    The engine roared and the wheels threw sand and rocks up into the faces of the hostiles behind them when Lena pushed the Nomad into overdrive. All three of them were thrown back into their seats, and Kara looked over her shoulder, out the rear window, confirming they weren’t being chased. They were just being shot at. She had memory flashes of seeing that alien species before she had been taken. There was a great war, and Kara hoped that their existence didn’t mean that Krypton had been defeated or destroyed. A lot of questions rose that wouldn’t have an answer until Krypton was found, or confirmed lost.

    “That was one hell of a welcoming party.” Lucy sighed, deciding that putting on her seatbelt was a good idea.

    “I’d call it a warning shot.” Lena frowned, her knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. “Or warning _shots_.”

    They returned to the ship and Lena drove them up onto the ramp. Kara hopped out as the ramp lifted and pulled them up into the belly of the ship. As soon as the ramp was up and locked in, James had them up in the air and leaving the planet. Winn had picked up a few alien ships waiting in the atmosphere, but the Lutessa was built with the speed to get past without engaging.

    “Do you think… planets in the Andromeda galaxy, or at least this cluster, have an expiry date?” Lucy asked Lena as they stepped out of the Nomad, and leaned against it.

    “If this planet came into existence like the planet we almost crashed into before… we might have our first conspiracy theory.” Lena sighed, taking off her helmet. “Or maybe that alien race is out here, making planets, and there’s a window of time where they’re perfect for our kind, but eventually they grow habitable for _them_.”

    Kara overheard Lena and Lucy’s discussion and so many things rushed into her head, about Krypton. She remembered things she had forgotten. Species native to Andromeda that had been involved in the great war, and things the science guild had been working on. Perhaps if they found Krypton, they would also find a tool that could help them with planet viability, _and_ the hostile inhabitants.

     _“Kara, you’re up first. Come to the med-bay.”_ Alex’s voice came over the comms when they made it back to the ship. Kara removed her suit, practically bouncing off towards the medical bay to get her first proper physical done.

    Lena and Lucy watched her go, confused. “Is she… right in the head?” Lucy whispered, “No-one’s ever that happy when going for a physical.”

    “She told me that she’s getting along with Alex. Not that surprising, considering the effect Kara has on people.” Lena put her stuff back in her locker and hung up Kara’s suit for her, ignoring the way Lucy stared at her with an eyebrow raised.

    Kara entered the medical bay and closed the doors behind her. “You managed to get everything?” She sat down on the bench, looking at all the equipment that Kara had listed for Alex laid out.

    “Your instructions were clear, thank god.” Alex mumbled, turning up the intensity of the red sun lamps. “How long does it usually take?”

    “Turn it up to max and it should be about ten minutes. The artificial light essentially reverses the processes in the organ that collects and stores energy from a yellow sun.” Kara laid down under the lamps and sighed, closing her eyes and feeling all of her limbs become heavier. She felt hesitancy about doing this, voluntarily becoming powerless so soon after encountering a hostile species.

    Alex got to work preparing the syringes to draw blood samples and placed electrodes on Kara to monitor her vitals. She was in awe of Kara’s statistics, she hadn’t seen anything like it before. The pure energy manifesting in her body, and news that there was an _organ_ that collected and stored energy. She wanted to open Kara up and take a look.

    “I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no.” Kara mumbled, smirking just a little.

    “At least tell me there’s information somewhere about your internal organs that I could read.” Alex grabbed her tablet and overclocked the sun lamps, trying to get more than the maximum setting to speed up the process.

    “If I find my home planet, all you wish to know will be there.” Kara could feel herself gradually become powerless. “It’s done.”

    Alex grabbed a syringe and pressed the needle to the skin at the inside of her elbow, drawing a sample of Kara’s blood. She smiled, placing a band aid over the site when she was done.

    “Is that… a smile? From Dr Danvers?” Kara laughed softly, “And all it took was alien blood!”

    The doctor nodded, making sure she got all that she needed. “So how was the reconnaissance mission? Feel any different than before?”

    “I feel fine! It was really hot out there, but the suits help a lot.” Kara looked up at Alex from the bench, watching the doctor run tests on her blood. “Got everything you need?”

    “Just need to test your reflexes.”

    Kara sat up when Alex turned off the lamps and laughed when Alex tapped her knees with the little rubber hammer, her legs jerking without her telling them to. It felt funny. She kept her eyes open wide when Alex shone a light into them, testing her cognitive functions.

    “Everything looks great. So, what’s on your mind?” Alex noticed that Kara was kind of staring off into space.

    “What?”

    “What are you thinking about?” Alex got busy tidying everything up and hiding the sun lamps away where no one would tamper with or discover them.

    “The Pathfinder… I guess.” Kara breathed, leaning back on her hands. She chewed at her bottom lip, thinking about Lena and how incredibly beautiful she was, how impressive she had been in action during the mission.

    Alex raised an eyebrow. “I think someone has a bit of a crush.”

    Kara gasped softly, looking to Alex. “N-no!” She stood and stretched, “That would be… unprofessional. Right?”

    She was pushed back down to sit on the bench and Alex sat in front of her. “Hardly. Remember all those stories about Commander Shepard?” Alex enjoyed talking to someone without having to put up all her walls. In all honesty, Alex preferred to be less… harsh towards people that weren’t human. Perhaps it was bias, knowing all the things humans had done, most of them bad.

    “Yeah, that’s true. She ended up dating about… half of her crew?” Kara laughed softly, “Lena is so… amazing. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet, even though it is the first week on the ship.”

    Alex nodded, “She’s definitely the most attractive Luthor. If anything, I’d compare you to Commander Shepard, by the way almost everyone looks at you. Especially the Pathfinder.”

    Kara blushed, “Really?” She swung her legs slightly off the end of the bench, “H-how does she look at me?”

    “Honestly, she looks at you like you’re the sun.” Alex mumbled, “God, that’s so cheesy.” She almost gagged, pulling all the electrodes off Kara. “She’d probably let you get away with anything. Not that you _should_.” She looked into Kara’s eyes, making sure she didn’t miss her seriousness.

    She felt faint, and being powerless wasn’t helping. Learning that Lena looked at her like _that_ … surely Alex was pulling her leg. Even if she wanted to get that close to Lena, she would have to tell her the truth about who she was. Where they were at the moment, she felt like telling Lena the truth would get her thrown off the ship, no matter what Alex said.

    “I should go and get some sun.” Kara left the medical bay and went straight to Lena’s room. She practically threw herself onto the couch and into the sunlight. She sighed happily as she soaked up the warmth. She closed her eyes and snuggled up with the pillows.

    After a short while, Kara only felt slightly better, and decided she needed more exposure. She pulled off her shirt and resumed her position, feeling more comfortable.

    “Kara, I think we should ta-oh my god!” Lena walked into her room but quickly covered her eyes with her hands when she realised Kara was lying on her couch, _shirtless_. She blushed and her heart sped slightly. “What… why are you shirtless?”

    Kara sat up and looked to Lena with wide eyes. She grabbed her shirt and quickly pulled it on. “I… the… warm?” She got up and walked over to Lena, carefully pulling her hands away from her face. She smiled when Lena’s eyes opened, and she noticed how her cheeks were flushed.

    Lena bit her lip, feeling the warmth of Kara’s touch spread outwards from where she held onto her wrists. “Warm? Is it too cold in here? I’m sorry… I always put the temperature too low, people used to complain back home.” She laughed softly, only blushing more when Kara smiled earnestly. All thoughts in her mind were replaced by the image of Kara’s shirtless figure, how the sun’s light had draped over the curves of her toned upper body.

    “N-no, not at all.” Kara let go of Lena’s wrists and shoved her hands into her pockets before her hands started to wander. “I just like the sun’s warmth. I think you were saying something about wanting to talk?” She felt a bit of anxiety take up residence in her stomach, hoping everything was okay.

    ‘I enjoy your warmth.’ Lena forced herself to move, but instead of going for the couch, where Kara had just been lounging shirtless, she headed for the bed and promptly sat down on the edge. “I was just thinking… perhaps the couch isn’t the best place for you to sleep.”

    “Escape pod?” Kara tilted her head slightly and Lena almost lost her resolve at how _cute_ Kara was, without even knowing.

    “The escape pod is, and always will be, off the table.” She also hated the idea of having Kara sleep in the one part of the ship that could be separated and lost to space at the push of a button. Plus, it took resources to fetch a launched escape pod. “Sleep injuries happen, and I can’t let them occur to anyone on my squad, especially those that are out there with me.”

    Kara’s brow creased, confused. If not the escape pod, where would she sleep? There were no spare beds. The only place she could think of that had room was…

    “In case you haven’t already noticed, my bed is _huge_. Surely we can share a bed.” Lena thought it was a good idea, subconsciously. It was also a bad idea, having Kara share the bed with her, being so close, for many hours at a time. Pathfinders were trained to have impeccable self-control over impulses, but Lena seriously doubted her skills when it came to Kara.

    “Oh… well, if you insist!” Kara smiled, seemingly unaffected by the proposition. Lena cursed herself, internally.

    “I do.” _Damn it, Lena._ She sighed, “I also wanted to talk to you about today.” She had questions about Kara’s reactions to what had happened out on the reconnaissance mission. “Lucy lost her mind, I was certainly very surprised, but you seemed… resigned. I saw you when looking over my shoulder. Either you’re very good at keeping your reactions under control, as a security and response specialist, or there’s something you aren’t telling me.”

    Kara visibly stiffened, and quickly moved to sit down next to Lena. She went completely silent, and clasped her hands together in her lap. She had a choice to make. Tell Lena the truth and potentially save them time, or play along with her cover. The way she felt about Lena wasn’t making the decision any easier.

    “Kara? Please say something.” Lena coaxed her, placing a hand on Kara’s back in a comforting gesture. “I hate worrying… but I do.”

    “I know what those things were.”

    “ _What?_ ” Lena’s voice was raised slightly but the hand on Kara’s back remained. “How is that possible?”

    “They’re not the first Andromedian species you’ve met.” Kara met Lena’s eyes and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Surprise?”


	6. in kara we trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's a bit angsty, but it's always darkest before the dawn, right? :)

    Lena stood abruptly, moving away from the bed. She tapped her bracelet and entered a command into the display. Walls came up from within the floor and down from the ceiling, creating an enclosure around the bed, and around Kara.

    “Lena, please-“ Kara stood and placed a hand against the barrier, her eyes blown wide with fear.

    She ignored Kara’s pleas and activated a ship-wide quarantine. She had to follow protocol. It hurt, the sting of betrayal and distrust left a funny taste in her mouth and a weight on her chest. The feelings were familiar, stemming from a life within the Luthor family. Having those feelings connected to Kara was pushing her to the edge.

     _“Pathfinder? Why the quarantine?”_ Alex’s voice came from her bracelet, pulling her from her emotional spiral.

    “Kara’s an alien. I have to follow protocol. Meeting up top in five.” She cut off communications and looked to Kara, seeing the plethora of emotions she was feeling. Fear, disbelief, hope. “I’m sorry.” Lena whispered, stepping up to the barrier. She wanted to place her hand where Kara’s was, wanted to give in, but her exterior remained strong. “Or maybe I’m not. I wasn’t the one blindsided.”

    Lena could feel as the Lutessa came to a stop in the middle of space, stranded as per the quarantine protocol. They couldn’t dock anywhere until the quarantine was cleared.

    “Lena…”

    “That’s _Pathfinder_ to you.” Lena stood straight, staring at Kara, no matter how hard it was not to fall victim to those pleading eyes.

    “I would never hurt you.” Kara had both hands against the barrier now, knowing she could easily break through, but doing so would probably let off all the alarms and alert more people to the situation. “You know that, deep down, I know you do!” Her voice broke, knowing whatever happened next would either make or break her relationship with one of the groups in Andromeda that could help her find home.

    “I know that you left out a _very_ important detail of who you are, and let me bring you onto my ship. God knows what you’re capable of!” Lena backed off, needing to put some distance between her and Kara, her heart started to break.

    Kara felt the sting of tears, and her hands fell to her sides. She sat back down on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest, making herself small.

    “I can’t believe this. I trusted you, I believed in you. All of this could have been avoided.” She walked out, and made her way up to the round table to meet with Alex. A second longer in that room and she would have lost all control.

    “Pathfinder?” Alex stood up when she saw Lena come up the ramp. “You don’t look too good, did Kara do something to you?”

    “Other than keep something this big from me, betray my trust and put my whole squad at risk? No, I’m just shaken from hearing that my best friend is actually an alien from _here_.” Lena sat down and had to stop herself from flinching when she felt Alex’s hand on her shoulder. The display of support was unexpected, especially from the doctor.

    Alex frowned. She didn’t know much about Kara’s abilities, but she knew the girl meant no harm to anyone, especially the squad. “I think revealing herself at all was a huge risk, I think she knew people may have reacted this way, and not given her the benefit of the doubt. So far… she has been nothing but kind, helpful, and open with everything except the fact she isn’t human.”

    Lena looked up at Alex. “It didn’t take long for you to go soft.”

    “I know 10 ways to kill you and make it look like natural causes. Don’t test me.” She growled, sitting down next to Lena.

    “It was her, wasn’t it? Do you _like_ her?”

    Alex laughed, “Hell no, you’re the one who likes her, and you’re terrible at hiding it. You _still_ like her! Even after the whole reveal!”

    She gasped, but it didn’t sound completely genuine. “How _dare_ …” Lena sighed, “Fine. She’s… she got under my skin.” She leaned forward on the table and held her head in her hands. “You knew she wasn’t human, didn’t you?”

    “Yeah.”

    “So you lied to me too, by omission.”

    “It wasn’t my secret to tell. I didn’t know how to approach it.” Alex stood and patted Lena’s back gently. “Maybe you should go back down there and talk to her. Don’t be judgemental, don’t brush her aside.”

    “Are you sure? Do you know what she can do? Because I don’t.” Lena mumbled, she felt the way she had at the beginning of her training. Dazed and nervous.

    “I don’t know, but I would love to find out. I bet you do too.” Alex headed towards the ramp but stopped short. She turned back, “You’re lost, but not as lost as she is.” With that, Alex headed back down to the medical bay, feeling like Lena could handle it on her own.

    When Lena returned to her quarters, Kara was still in the same position, curled up on her bed within the cell. She could feel eyes on her as she took a detour to her desk to quickly centre herself before facing Kara again. Then she heard Kara sob quietly, and all she wanted to do was let the walls down and hold her close.

    “P-Pathfinder?” Kara’s voice was small, but heavy with her tears. “P-please… I-I just want to find m-my home.” She wiped at her eyes with the end of her sleeve, watching through blurry eyes as Lena moved closer to the cell.

    “Where’s home?” Lena’s voice threatened to break, as did her heart, seeing Kara so broken. She continued to fight an internal battle over whether she had inflicted this hurt on Kara, or Kara had done it to herself.

    “I-I’m from a planet called K-Krypton… in the Rao system.” Kara sniffled and let her legs down, opening up more. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs, crying for the home she had been taken from, the home that might not even exist anymore.

    Lena sat down on the floor and felt her throat tighten with the threat of tears when Kara moved to mirror her, and she released just how defeated she looked. “I… I want to know what you are… what you can do. I need to know that you won’t hurt anyone.”

    Kara nodded, “I’m Kryptonian… I-I gain powers from the rays of a yellow sun.” She took a breath, “E-enhanced speed, strength, sight, hearing, reflexes… x-ray vision.” If Lena was going to trust her, she needed to tell her everything. “Heat vision, I can f-fly and I’m bulletproof. T-the only thing that can kill or hurt me… is Kryptonite.”

    Her head spun, hearing about all these things Kara could do. She wanted to see her in action, but she also felt fear at how powerful she was. “What’s Kryptonite?”

    “It’s radioactive, but only damaging towards Kryptonians…” Kara looked down at her lap, hoping that Lena wouldn’t take that information and use it to hurt her. If she did, she would be the first, and probably wouldn’t be the last.

    “I don’t know if I can trust you yet.” Lena whispered, “But thank you… for being honest. I just need some time.” She went to stand but heard the door open.

    Alex walked in, “Seriously? Why does your bed turn into a cell?”

    Lucy poked her head in, “Wow, that’s kinky! Hey Kara!” She waved, but Alex pushed on her head and closed the door behind her.

    “Please, trust me.” Kara pleaded, looking between Alex and Lena. She had no intention of hurting anyone, but every intention to help in any way she could, especially when it came to Andromedian species.

    “Oh, I trust you. Luthor? Not so much. At least I don’t think so, unless the little talk you two just had changed anything?” Alex sat down next to Lena and got busy with her tablet, bringing up scans that Winn had taken from the alien encounter on habitat seven. “We need Kara, she has information on Andromeda, much more than we do.”

    “And I need _you_ … to help me find home.” Kara had calmed down, she felt more level-headed, able to answer any questions they had for her. She felt hope, now that Alex was here and advocating for her to stay. The way Lena’s features softened showed that it was working.

    Lena was liking this side of Alex, it seemed to come out whenever Kara was involved. “Tell me what those aliens were.” She felt like she had to test Kara more, she wanted nothing but honesty and straight answers.

    “They’re called Auh’vi. I remember them from my childhood on Krypton. No one could figure out where they came from, but they obviously needed a home. They used violent techniques, destroying any planet that couldn’t change to sustain their kind. Shortly before I was taken… they were threatening to invade Krypton.” Kara started to feel distressed again just by talking about her home, and her kidnapping.

    Alex placed a hand against the barrier and Kara mirrored it. She wanted to help the alien, and help everyone who had migrated to Andromeda, by finding out vital information that could aid their effort to find a new home. “This is great information, Kara.”

    Lena nodded, “So the… Auh’vi. They changed planets?”

    “The atmosphere, yes. They poisoned planets… with some kind of machine. The success rate was extremely low… so I assume they would have developed another way to make planets habitable for _them_ … seeing as most of the planets picked out for Milky Way species are uninhabitable.” Kara frowned, meeting Lena’s eyes. They looked completely different to the Lena she was used to. Almost lifeless, but they contained some determination and sympathy after hearing what her kind had gone through.

    “Okay.” Lena glanced at Alex and her tablet, seeing that the doctor was documenting everything Kara said. “I need a meeting with you, Lucy, and Jess.” She stood and headed up to the briefing area just outside the bridge.

 

    “What do you think is happening?” James got up from his seat and went over to Winn, leaning against the back of his chair.

    Winn looked up at James and shrugged. “Whatever is happening, it’s got to be more exciting than sitting around up here!” He sighed, “I’ve been getting some strange readings, and I’ve done a few more cluster-wide scans. The results are even stranger.”

    James sat down on top of one of the consoles, refusing to move when Winn shot him a look for using expensive technology as a seat. “What kind of strange?”

    “Planets are _evolving_ , going through extinction events and various climate states at an incredible pace. Much faster than Earth ever did.” Winn pulled up a timelapse he had created, showing the cluster and pointing out certain planets within systems and their rate of change. “And some planets… just _appear_. Out of nothing!”

    “Like that perfect world we almost flew into.” James nodded, looking at the chart. At least one planet in each system was being affected, or created. “Think Kara knows anything about it?”

    Winn rubbed his hands together and brought up surveillance of the Pathfinder’s quarters, more specifically the cell Kara was in. They listened, and Winn spun to face James with wide eyes when Kara talked about the Auh’vi. “She _does_.” Winn breathed, taken over by a sudden itch to get in a room with Kara, to pick her brain. “I hope she stays, she’s invaluable. I wonder how much she knows about Andromeda.”

    James nodded, “If she knew about the aliens when they went out on that reconnaissance mission… do you think Kara would’ve saved them if things had gone south?”

    “Without a doubt. I know we both haven’t talked to her much… she seems to spend a lot of time with the girls, but I’m usually a good judge of character.” Winn smiled, turning back to the console and pouring over a bunch of statistics, trying to see if there was anything artificially created and changing the planets.

    “And I usually trust you, so that means I’m on-board.” He patted Winn on the shoulder and returned to his seat. “Maybe after this quarantine is sorted we should do some team bonding.”

    “Could we watch a movie? I have a Turian classic!” Winn looked over to James, throwing a fist to the air when James agreed.

    “They do the best action films.” James laughed, glad he got along so well with at least one of the other guys on the ship.

 

    “When can Kara be released?” Lucy sat forward, looking between Alex and Lena. “She’s friendly, right? She’s had every opportunity to cause harm and she hasn’t!”

    “That’s what I called you up here for. I need your opinion, you were out there on the mission with us.” Lena pursed her lips in thought, thinking about it from every perspective. She had to take into account what the Nexus would say, what Director J’onnz would say about it. She had to put her squad first, their safety was her responsibility. “As the logistics specialist, I want your input.”

    Lucy stared at Lena, confused. At the beginning of the day, she and Kara had been closer than anyone else. They were practically on top of each other all the time. “I want her out of holding! She isn’t an animal. She’s pretty much your girlfriend, Pathfinder.”

    Lena blushed and shook her head, “She isn’t. And don’t go off topic!” She growled at Lucy, causing her to sit back and pay attention. “I need this team to be safe. I’m doing this as your Pathfinder.”

    “I want you to release Kara, as our _friend_.” Lucy looked to Alex for approval instead of Lena, knowing the Pathfinder’s head wasn’t completely straight.

    Alex nodded her approval, “I also want Kara to be released. Her vitals are normal, she’s perfectly healthy and in control of her abilities.”

    “Abilities?” Lucy sat up straight, intrigued.

    “She can do some pretty cool stuff.” Alex smirked, sitting back as everyone’s eyes returned to Lena for the verdict.

    It had been a tense day with the Lutessa stranded, and the quarantine in effect. Things had been quiet on-board, but there was something different to the atmosphere. Lena knew she was the one who made it that way, but everyone needed to understand that there was a protocol to follow, and questions to be asked. Sometimes the people closest to you would hurt you the most, and Lena had to protect her squad from that. However, she felt relief that Kara hadn’t turned out as a threat to them. She couldn’t shake the feeling of betrayal though, it had certainly been a scare.

    “I’ll go and deactivate quarantine.” Lena stood and went back down to her quarters. Kara’s head popped up when she heard Lena enter. She looked drained, but resigned in her cell.

    Lena entered a code on her bracelet and the walls collapsed back into their containers in the wall and floor. She walked up to Kara, looking into her eyes. The air was thick with uncertainty, and Kara didn’t know whether she was being let out to be kicked off the ship or to have things return to normal.

    “Lena?” Kara whispered, afraid to look away, hoping she was able to stay.

    She held out her fist to Kara, uneasy but committed. The squad had decided, and so had she. They slowly but surely completed the secret handshake and Lena placed a hand at the back of Kara’s head, bringing their foreheads together. Lena was almost shaking, afraid of the things Kara could do, but had to remind herself that Kara was on their side. “Don’t make me regret this.” She breathed, and she could feel Kara smile.

    Kara felt so much relief, so happy that Lena hadn’t shown her the door. She closed the distance and hugged Lena tightly, wanting to make her gratitude known. She knew that Lena had to place a lot of trust in her, and she would have to prove herself.

    Lena gasped softly, feeling Kara completely wrap herself around her in a tight hug. She remembered to hug Kara back, and had to stop herself from burying her face in her neck. Kara was so warm, so solid. She didn’t feel like she was hugging an alien, it was just _Kara_. Of course, nothing had changed physically. Only emotionally. Lena’s emotions were a mess, and she felt like she needed time to figure everything out, otherwise her job as Pathfinder would be hindered. She pulled away, spared a glance at Kara who was all smiles at this point, and headed to the bridge.

    “Winn, James, any developments on the research?” Lena stood at the galaxy map, glad to see they had continued moving through space.

    “I found _so_ many planets that are going through this rapid change, the window of habitability for our kind is so small, and planets are being created out of nothing. I’m just trying to find out if there is any specific signature that’s common with all the planets.” Winn pulled up his timelapse for Lena to see.

    She looked over the data, watching as planets all over the clustered came into existence in no time at all. “That’s insane.” She muttered, pouring over the details. “They’ve made something that can create whole planets…”

    “The Auh’vi?” Winn looked over to Lena, “I’m searching for a signature that could match something non-organic. Maybe something artificial is creating or changing the planets.”

    “Perhaps Kara could aid us in the search?” James piped up from the right side of the bridge, smiling at Winn.

    “How do y-“ Lena sighed, “You looked at the surveillance.” She looked back at the map, not bothering to tell Winn off for being curious about the quarantine Kara had been placed in. Everyone deserved answers anyway. “Kara knew that they were changing planets using a machine, but it had a low success rate.”

    Winn nodded, “So they would need a new machine with a higher success rate.”

    “That could complete the process of planet creation in the blink of an eye.” Lena pushed off the railing. “Look for something big, it wouldn’t be hiding within a system. Also, start a search for organic life with the same genetic makeup as Kara, Alex has a sample of her blood you can use.” She left the bridge and stopped by the kitchen on the way to her quarters to grab some food.

    Kara was in the kitchen when Lena got there, pulling out a bunch of stuff from the fridge. “Hey… sorry about the mess, I’m _starving_.”

    “How… how much do you need to eat?” Lena watched on in amazement, Kara had a whole loaf of bread, two jars of peanut butter, about an armful of Asari chips and a whole roast.

    “About ten times the what you need to eat.” She sat down at the table and dug in, using generous amounts of peanut butter to create as many peanut butter sandwiches as she could.

    Lena raised an eyebrow, “So _that’s_ where our entire food supply has been going. In your stomach.” She went to the fridge and grabbed whatever was left, which was a single stick of celery. “We’ll have to stop by the Nexus to re-stock.”

    Kara laughed softly, “My metabolism is extremely fast. All these powers and just the process of storing energy from the sun takes a lot.” She spoke around a mouthful of sandwich.

    When they both had finished eating, they walked to the small lounge area near the briefing table. Lena sat down next to Kara, trying to come up with a way to break the silence. “Winn is working to find the thing that’s creating planets.”

    “That’s good, I hope he finds it.” Kara chewed her bottom lip, wondering about how to approach Lena after what had happened, or _if_ she should even approach her at all. Maybe it was best to keep moving forward and forget it had happened.

    “Maybe you need some time alone… I’ll just-“ Lena stood but felt Kara’s hand catch hers. She looked down at Kara, meeting her eyes. She looked lost, like Alex had said. Lena was a bit lost too, when it came to Kara.

    “I’ve been alone for more than half my life…” Kara all but pulled Lena back down to sit next to her. It was the truth, a truth she would no longer hide from Lena. “Please… stay.” She needed Lena, more than she knew.

    Lena couldn’t refuse Kara, it was the least she could do to keep her company. Remembering the fact that Kara didn’t know if she still had a home to go back to, Lena held Kara’s hand and sat closer than before. It would take time for everything to heal, but everything she felt for Kara was still there, buried under the mess of emotions.


	7. stopover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait, and the short update, I just wanted to get something out before uni started up again - might be a few mistakes in there, but this week was super busy :)

    “It goes here.” Lena took the part from Jack and placed it in the slot. “Try it now.”

    Jack flipped a switch and the project they had been working on lit up, it started to whir, and then it sputtered and completely shut down. “Damn. Has space travel caused us to lose IQ?”

    Lena shook her head, “Definitely not. The stress might have sprouted some grey hairs though.” She sat down on the floor and sighed, staring at their creation. It was an upgrade to the scanning systems on the Lutessa. If they wanted to find the Auh’vi machine quicker, they had to push the limits.

    She grabbed a tablet and went through the blueprints Jack had drafted, trying to find any faults, cross-referencing the build with the blueprint. She couldn’t find anything wrong or any differences between the two. “Run some tests? Voltages, input and output?”

    Jack nodded and hooked up the part to some cables that could monitor statistics. They hooked it back up to power, reset the power and tested it. “It isn’t receiving the amount of power it needs. We built it to handle that much…”

    “There, regulator is loose.” Lena reached in with and tightened the component. They tested it again and got the same result. “What the _hell_ is wrong with it?”

    Suddenly a curious face peeked into the engine room. “I finished fixing the ceiling of the meeting room!” Kara smiled, “Hey Jack!” She looked to Lena cautiously, hoping they were still on good terms.

    Lena looked to Kara and smiled softly, waving her in. “We’re not having much luck with the upgrade here.”

    “No luck, actually.” Jack frowned, getting up from the floor to greet Kara.

    “Mind if I look?” Kara walked over, and Jack lent her his toolbelt. She knelt down, using her x-ray vision to look at the upgrade. She spotted the problem. Holes in various components that couldn’t be seen by the human eye, holes that were letting vital power seep out. “Lucky no one decided to touch it while it was turned on!” She leaned in, basically sticking her head inside, and used her heat-vision to seal any holes she found on the inside. She returned to the outside and gave the components on the outside of the upgrade the same treatment.

    Lena gasped softly, getting chills from witnessing an ability, the first ability she had seen Kara use. The way her eyes glowed before shooting out a beam. She immediately wondered what the limits of the ability were, how hot, how concentrated, and how far Kara could make the beams.

    Kara finished the fix and stood back up. “That should do.” She took a look at the test they had run and saw a value that didn’t line up. She did the calculations in her head in less than a second. “Change the voltage to this exactly, it’s the most optimised value for this.”

    Lena was amazed, to say the least. “Did you just… figure all of that out in your head?” The equations had taken Jack two hours at most to get an _approximate_ value.

    “Yeah! On Krypton, we were centuries ahead of you.” Kara spaced out for a moment, still being caught off-guard by memories of Krypton when she talked about home. Sorrow, anxiety, hope and a lot of other emotions passed through her in seconds.

    Jack turned on the power and the machine powered up and stabilised. Lena smiled at Kara, stepping around everything to get to Kara. She placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Thank you.” She whispered.

    “Anything to help.” Kara returned to the present, looking at Lena, feeling better about their relationship, like it could only go up from here.

 

    Kara sat down on the examination table and smiled at Alex, who merely grumbled in return. Lucy walked in and closed the door behind her. “Hey Lucy!”

    “Hey Kara, Dr Danvers.” Lucy sat next to Kara, swinging her legs where they didn’t touch the ground.

    “So why was I brought into this?” Alex looked between Kara and Lucy, and raised an eyebrow. She had no idea why she had to be pulled into all the drama aboard the ship, she was supposed to be the medical officer, not the on-board therapist.

    Lucy rubbed her hands together, “Guess who has a crush on the Pathfinder?”

    “I don’t need to guess, it’s Kara.” Alex sighed, grabbing her tablet in an attempt to distract herself and put distance between any potential drama.

    The tablet was quickly swiped by Lucy. “You _care_!” She gasped, hitting Kara on the shoulder.

    “I know! She keeps denying it!” Kara laughed softly, leaning against Lucy. “I need help.” She whispered, “I’m not sure… if Lena likes me after everything that happened.”

    “Luthor came in for a physical the other day, I could tell she wanted to ask me the same thing.” Alex relented, revealing information that she knew could get her in trouble. However, anything in favour of getting those two idiots together would be a positive outcome. At least she thought so.

    Kara’s neck was red, and it was spreading up to her cheeks. She had no idea how to approach the situation. She wanted to help Lena, and also wanted to remain her friend. So quickly after revealing her true identity, Kara decided it would be better to lay low, let Lena step up and focus on her mission. That was the most important thing.

    “Look at the poor girl…” Lucy sighed, rubbing circles on Kara’s back. “The path to happiness is long and torturous.” She smiled softly, looking to Alex.

    “I mean… I wouldn’t know.” She shrugged, sitting back in her chair. “I can’t even tell if Kara, as an alien, experiences all these feelings the same way we do.”

    “Of course she does!” Lucy threw a hand in the air, “Case and point!” She pointed at Kara’s red cheeks, playfully poking one. It made Kara come out of whatever thought she was lost in and caused her to laugh lightly. “No matter what Kara, we’ll be here for you. And your feelings are valid.”

    Alex shook her head in slight disbelief. “I’m only here for you if it anything happens to your health.” She held her hands up, “Don’t come running to me if you’re feeling emotional. That’s Lucy’s forte.”

    Lucy nodded, “I wouldn’t trust her with your feelings.”

    Kara smiled, feeling a lot better about everything, glad that Alex and Lucy were there for her. Lucy left to go and work on planning the next mission, leaving Kara and Alex alone in the medical bay.

    “The ship alerted me to an energy surge on-board about an hour ago. Any idea as to what that might have been?” Alex grabbed the tablet that Lucy had stolen from her earlier, she’d left it on the table.

    “That was me.” Kara said sheepishly, smiling. “Jack and Lena were working on an upgrade to the ship’s scanner and they weren’t getting anywhere so I helped them.”

    Alex sighed, picking up one of her tools, one the size of a pen, and used it to scan Kara’s vitals. “I’d be careful using powers on the ship. What power did you use that created that much energy?”

    “Heat vision.”

    “Yeah, _definitely_ be careful using heat vision inside the ship.” She looked into Kara’s eyes, and Kara heard her heart jump when she made her eyes glow.

    “Got you!” Kara laughed, lying back on the table. “Don’t worry doc! I’ve got everything under control. But if the doctor’s orders are no heat vision on the ship, I’ll obey.”

    Alex sat back down and pinched the bridge of her nose, finding this alien more of a handful than she had anticipated. “At least everything looks good, you’re free to keep doing whatever you’re doing. You’re cleared for the next mission, too.”

    “You know what it is?” Kara got excited, since she enjoyed the first mission so much, she couldn’t wait to go out again with Lena and Lucy.

    “You’ll have to ask the Pathfinder.”

    Kara grumbled and left the medical bay, heading straight for the kitchen to eat through her feelings.

 

    They docked at the Nexus to resupply, but only Lena left the Lutessa. Everyone else was tasked with getting supplies on-board. She headed straight for the Nexus command centre to meet with Director J’onnz.

    “Pathfinder Luthor, how did habitat seven go?” He pulled out a chair for Lena and they sat down together.

    Lena frowned slightly, not wanting to give any bad news, but they had good news in other areas. “Habitat seven is uninhabitable. However, it was habitable before, so there’s a chance we can make the planet habitable again.”

    The Director didn’t seem happy, but he didn’t seem sad either. “I wasn’t keeping my hopes high. I think you should visit habitat three next, the Turian world.”

    “Okay.” Lena felt a lot weighing on her, and the first habitat had been a failure, more failures would make people lose hope. “Maybe we keep all of this on the down-low?”

    “Of course. As soon as we find a habitable planet, the news will be all over it.” J’onn smiled and squeezed Lena’s shoulder in a show of support. “Don’t doubt my faith in you. You’ve already shown that who you are doesn’t reflect your name.”

    Lena smiled at J’onn, grateful to have such a friendly and supportive Director. She’d heard terrible things about the Directors in other sections.

    “Now, you wanted to talk about Kara being an alien?”

    She opened her mouth, but quickly remembered that Green Martians could read minds. She supposed, in his position, it was an excellent ability to have. There was simply no time for bullshit out here. “Yes, does that concern you?”

    “The only thing that concerns me is which side she’s on.”

    “She’s on our side. That much has been proven. I was hesitant to trust her, but I think I can build that trust back. She’s a valuable member of the team.” Lena explained, hoping Kara would still be cleared for missions.

    “If you trust her, I trust her. No reason not to continue going the way you have.” The Director stood, “You’re dismissed.”

    Lena nodded and left the control centre. It was strange, being in this new galaxy. It felt weird to not have a home. Others would argue that her quarters on the Lutessa were her home, but it didn’t feel like home to her. Back on Earth, her home had been the L-Corp building. All she could hope for was to find a place that felt like home in this hostile galaxy.


	8. heading up high

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings run high, and once again the squad is placed in trouble.

    Lena stepped up into the driver’s side of the Nomad, and turned on the engine to warm up. Habitat three was a bit on the cold side. “I should boost the heater system in these suits.”

    “Yes please.” Lucy grumbled, sitting in the backseat this time, because Lena had specifically asked that Kara ride shotgun. At least from the back Lucy had a good view on the ‘looks’ Kara and Lena were bound to share. Gossip was scarce and Lucy was hungry.

    Kara smiled and held her helmet on her lap, looking out the windows at the land around them. “So, we’ve already determined that this planet is uninhabitable?”

    “There’s a whole chunk missing.” Lena pulled up the maps, showing the large crater that was just over the horizon. “Winn picked up some strange signals, aside from that, the Director wanted us to check it out. For curiosity’s sake.

    “That sucks.” Kara sighed, fiddling with the visor of her helmet. She giggled at Lucy’s yelp when Lena launched the Nomad into action without any warning.

    Lena found Kara adorable, and found it _way_ too much fun to catch Lucy off-guard. They headed towards the lip of the crater. It was still some ways off in the distance, but they were moving faster than usual, because the gravity was lessened due to the crater.

    “Anyone remember those moon shoes people kept trying to bring back?” Lucy asked from the back, leaning forward to poke her head between Lena’s and Kara’s seats.

    Lucy’s head quickly met Lena’s hand as she was pushed back into her seat. “With the gravity here, we don’t need the shoes! Also, rude.” She huffed at Lena, frowning when she met Lena’s eyes in the rear-view mirror.

    Habitat three was plain, no plants in sight, and reminded Lena of the moon but just a different colour. A muddy colour instead of a metallic one. There were signs that life had existed, metal deposits and channels under the surface that held water. However, there was no species she knew of could live on water alone. She wondered what could have created the crater, if it was man-made or not.

    “Lena?”

    “Sorry, what?” She gripped the steering wheel harder and glanced at Kara, noting the girl’s expression. “What, am I not allowed to focus on driving?”

    “Well, yes, but did you hear anything I just said?”

    “No.” Lena shot a sorry look at Kara. “Repeat? I’ll listen this time, promise.”

    “I was just saying that I could have broken out of that cell you put me in.” Kara smiled innocently and Lucy stayed in the backseat, looking back and forth between Kara and Lena like she was at a tennis match.

    Lena’s brow creased, “But you didn’t, why?”

    “Because I wanted you, and everyone on the Lutessa to trust me. I want you to understand that.” Out of the corner of Lena’s eye, Kara’s hand twitched. Like she wanted to reach out to Lena.

    To be honest, the only words Lena had heard were ‘because I wanted you’ and she’d promptly short-circuited. “Okay.” She managed to get out, not wanting to blow the fact that she hadn’t been fully listening, _again._

    Kara certainly didn’t hesitate this time, and placed a hand on Lena’s leg, squeezing her knee gently. Lena almost screamed, but managed to stop herself and jerk her knee away, sending a glare in Kara’s direction as well at the unexpected touch.

    Lucy had a hand over her mouth, trying not to interfere and cause whatever was happening between Lena and Kara to stop.

    “Look, I know rebuilding trust is a process. I have no idea how badly it was damaged, but if there’s anything I can do to make things happen faster, I’ll do it.” Kara cradled her helmet in her arms, staring out of the Nomad, straight ahead at the crater lip that was growing closer and closer.

    They hit a larger-than-normal rock and the Nomad bounced up into the air, causing them all to freak out for a second. “Woah… please tell me we’re not going to float away!” Lucy gripped Kara and Lena’s chairs, feeling the gravity, or lack thereof, more than she had before.

    Lena went down a gear when they touched ground again, wanting to take it easy with the new terrain. “We’re good.”

     _“Guys, you have a-“_ Winn’s voice was never good news, Lena had decided.

    Before Winn could finish, countless alien vehicles came over the lip of the crater, bearing down on them. “Oh, fuck me.” Lena breathed, eyes wide.

    She was too busy looking at the sheer number of hostiles coming at them to notice Kara was red, head to toe, hearing Lena swear like that.

    “Deja vu.” Lena gripped the steering wheel, trying to get her head on straight.

     _“Yeah, you have a problem. I’m sorry for not picking it up earlier!”_

    “What the _hell_ were you doing? This is a _big_ problem!” Lena yelled at Winn, even though it wouldn’t make anything better.

     _“Um, nothing, they have a camp in the crater, it hid their heat signatures really well!”_ Winn sounded shaken, and Lena honestly expected better from her science officer.

    Kara pressed a button on the dashboard and suddenly the steering wheel Lena was holding onto disappeared, was pulled into the dashboard, and then it reappeared in front of Kara.

    “Hey!”

    “Since we’re just sitting ducks here because you won’t move, I’ll do this, you work the controls.” Kara took pointers from their last mission and spun the wheel, kicking it into gear and spinning the Nomad around to head back the way they came, hopefully faster than the Auh’vi could go.

    Lena had to shut up and sit tight, hoping Kara was as good at driving than she supposedly was at using her powers. She didn’t want to argue, it wouldn’t save their lives. She set about working the controls, finding the boost pedal in the foot well and pushing it, hard. The Nomad all but exploded, shooting forward with incredible speed. All three of them were thrown back into their seats, and Kara managed to keep control of the wheel. “Distance?”

    Lucy pulled up her own display in the back, showing the map, “They’re still gaining.”

    “Shit!” Lena got a look from Kara, “I’m allowed to swear, I’m the Pathfinder! Keep your eyes on the road!”

    “How close are they?” Kara looked in the rear-view mirror, but it wasn’t good enough to judge the distance.

    “200 metres and closing, fast.” Lucy replied, looking between Kara and Lena, “The only way we make this out alive is if the Lutessa meets us half way. But it’s a long shot.”

    Kara sighed, “It doesn’t have to be a long shot.” She pressed the button and sent the steering wheel back to a very confused looking Lena. “Trust me?”

    Lena looked at Kara, “Not enough to do whatever it is you’re thinking of doing!” She raised her voice, “If it puts you in danger, I don’t trust you at all!”

    “What’s going- oh my _god_! Kara!” Lucy screamed, because Kara was there, and a second later, she wasn’t.

     _‘Cabin pressure has returned to normal bounds.’_ The Nomad’s systems pointed out that Kara leaving had thrown off the balance inside the cabin, and Lucy was thankful for Kara’s speed. Any longer with the door open and they would’ve died on the spot.

    “KARA!” Lena screamed, staring in disbelief at Kara’s discarded helmet on the passenger seat. The Nomad was in cruise control, thanks to Kara, so they kept moving even if Lena and Lucy couldn’t keep it together.

    Lena watched with tears in her eyes out the rear window, gasping when Kara lifted off from the ground and floated up high in the air. She was getting further and further away, and the Auh’vi began firing at her. Lena screamed in anguish, grabbing the wheel.

    Lucy jumped into the passenger seat and pulled up the rear-view camera so they could keep their eyes forward. They watched Kara, the back of her, take on hundreds of Auh’vi.

    They gasped when two beams of incredible light went from left to right, taking out dozens of vehicles. Every single one exploded, a massive movement stark against the motionless Kara high up in the air. Lena didn’t know whether to feel awe or dread, and whether to feel it for the Auh’vi or for Kara. Her powers were deadly, and Lena felt an incredible rush within her, knowing – and now believing – that Kara was on her side.

    “Winn, you need to come to us, we’re miles out and Kara’s trying to slow them down but I’m scared for her.” Lucy got her head back on first, calling it in.

    “I am too.” Lena added, trying not to let how shaken she was show.

    It was a matter of minutes before they saw the lights of the Lutessa approaching on the horizon. About 20 Auh’vi vehicles were still chasing, and Lena wondered why Kara hadn’t gotten them.

    Suddenly, the rear-view camera picked up a moving missile, headed straight for the Nomad. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck _fuck_!” Lena yelled, annoyed that she’d used up the boost earlier on. “Missile! It’s locked on!” She hoped Kara could hear them, and could help.

    “It’s picking up speed, where’s Kara?” Lucy started to panic, but kept her cool for Lena’s sake. A flash of light hit a friendly looking piece of armour. “There!” Lucy pointed it out, “There she is!” She prayed that the missile wouldn’t hit them. Kara was flying straight towards the Nomad, fast enough to be a blur on the horizon, and Lucy prayed she would make it in time.

    The missile stopped only feet from the Nomad, Kara had grabbed onto the missile with her hands and threw it at the ground away from them before returning to the fight. They were barely keeping it together, and the image of Kara flying back through a big explosion didn’t help.

    Between seeing Kara burst vehicles into flames and catching a missile with ease, Lena felt like she was going to cave in. She wasn’t yet familiar with the extent of Kara’s powers, and hoped she knew what she was doing. Alien technology could possibly affect her in a way that human technology couldn’t. All she knew was that she didn’t want to lose Kara.

    When the Lutessa set down, Lena lined the Nomad up and they drove straight up the ramp into the ship. She hastily put on her helmet and jumped out, hoping with every bone in her body that Kara was behind them.

    One minute passed.

    Lena had to keep it together, but it was impossible to when the person she had become closest to was out there, fighting for them all alone. She almost jumped when the Lutessa’s cannons fired off into the distance. A few seconds later the shot landed on a larger vehicle and all Lena could think about was if Kara had been anywhere near it.

    “KARA!” She yelled through her helmet, “Please…” She sunk to her knees next to the Nomad, scanning the horizon. Smoke, fire, but no sign of Kara.

    Lucy brought Kara’s helmet around to Lena’s side of the Nomad and handed it to her. “Do you think she can breathe out there?”

    “I… don’t know.”

    Five minutes passed.

    “Movement, I see movement.” Lucy pushed off from the Nomad where she had been leaning against it and pointed, a spot that seemed to be getting bigger by the second.

    Lena stood, and almost sobbed with relief when she could tell that it was Kara. Winn began retracting the ramp and Kara flew in before it could close, and set herself down. Immediately, Lena ran to Kara and hugged her as tight as she could with her suit on. Never had being hugged back felt so good.

    When the cargo bay air pressure levelled out, they removed their helmets and Lena’s eyes met Kara’s. “Are… are you okay?” She breathed, standing as close as she dared.

    Kara looked solemn, like something had gone wrong. “I’m fine, are you okay?” She asked Lena, and also Lucy. There was obviously a battle going on within Kara, but Lena thought it would be better not to push, especially after everything that had just happened.

    Lena felt like crying, and then Lucy was demanding a hug from Kara too. “I thought we’d lost you, going out there without your _helmet_.”

    “I can hold my breath for a really long time, and it takes longer for the lack of atmosphere to affect my body.” Kara was out of breath, but she looked stronger than ever. “I… I’m just glad you’re okay. Both of you.” She pulled both Lucy and Lena into a hug, trying not to reveal that she had been incredibly nervous and uncertain about using her powers.

    A moment passed, “Winn, get us out of here.” Lena pulled back and made the call, wanting to get as far away from habitat three, and the Auh’vi, as fast as possible.

    “I don’t want to be in this suit a second longer.” Lucy huffed, heading off towards the loadout bay to change. Lena and Kara followed suit, hanging back to walk side-by-side.

    “I want to talk to you later… if that’s okay?” Lena looked up to Kara, “I need to discuss something with Jess first, and have a team meeting, but after that?”

    Kara met Lena’s gaze, nodding softly. “Of course. Anything for you, Lena.”

    The way Kara said her name sent a shiver through Lena, and she sped up a little, itching to get out of the suit and into some more comfortable clothes. She had it bad, and it was the reason she needed to speak with Jess.

 

    Kara sat in the kitchen, needing to refuel. She dug a hand into a bag of chips, shoving the handful into her mouth. All she could think about was the fact that she had killed possibly thousands of Auh’vi for Lena and Lucy. The whole scene played over and over in her head, the way her face warmed when she released her heat vision on all the vehicles, the way she felt no regret in ending so many lives in order to save two.

    What struck her the most was the fact that she would have done it again. She still couldn’t deny the guilt she felt. Perhaps there could have been another way. Maybe she could have grabbed the Nomad and flew it back to the Lutessa with the speed advantage she had over the Auh’vi fleet.

    She didn’t even realise the bag of chips was empty when she came back out of her thoughts. She opened another one and continued snacking, wondering how Lena’s talk with Jess was going. She knew better than to eavesdrop, and Lena had a right to privacy, like everyone else on the ship.

    “Chips!” Winn appeared and snuck a hand into the bag, but was suddenly met face-to-face with two glowing eyes. “Shit!” He squealed, jumping back in fright.

    Kara gasped and turned off her eyes, dropping the bag of chips. “Winn! Rao, I’m so sorry!” She gave him a once over, glad she hadn’t fried him on the spot.

    “No! Oh god, don’t tell anyone!” He was frozen to the spot, mortified at the girlish scream he had let loose, and hoped that no one else had heard. A moment passed and he found his feet again, and he ran, to the other end of the ship, leaving Kara alone and confused in the kitchen.

    She wanted to be a good person, but there was no way in hell she was going to keep this to herself.

 

    “Jess I’m _screwed_.” Lena paced on the bridge, looking up only when Winn appeared, slightly out of breath, but he made his way quietly over to his seat. She looked pointedly at Jess, waving a hand dismissively. “No, I’m beyond screwed.”

    “You know it’s… not illegal to have feelings, right?” Jess leaned against a terminal, playing with her nails while Lena practically blew up in the middle of the bridge.

    Lena stared at Jess, “It should be! It’s… it’s irresponsible!”

    “You’re the Pathfinder, you have authority over everyone on this ship. I’m sure whatever you do, it’s deemed responsible.”

    “So… going along with my feelings for another member of my squad… that’s responsible.” Lena sighed and went to the galaxy map, searching for planets with high surface temperatures. “Help me find a volcano I can throw myself into.”

    Jess placed a hand on Lena’s shoulder, and Lena relaxed. They stared off into space together, completely ignoring James and Winn sitting either side of them.

    “I’ve known her for… four months?” Lena looked at the date, “Almost four months. _Why_ am I even keeping count?”

    “You can stop looking for reasons to not proceed, I know you know there aren’t any.” Jess laughed softly, “It’s adorable, but you know who’s more adorable?”

    Lena sighed, smiling softly. “Kara.” She whispered, figuring that the answer to most of her questions lately would be Kara, and would continue to be Kara. Maybe giving in to her feelings was a good move, it would certainly be a step towards getting her mind set back on the mission.

    The only problem Lena could think of, was that if they found Krypton, she didn’t know what she would do if Kara chose to return to her people. She certainly couldn’t follow Kara, right? She had a duty, and even once she had successfully found a home for everyone, her job wouldn’t be done. She decided it wasn’t worth it to think that far ahead. All she knew was that she _really_ liked Kara.

    “Earth to Lena?” Jess waved a hand in front of Lena’s face and she flinched, causing Jess to laugh and hit her on the shoulder. “Can’t believe you still do that after all this time.”

    “Do what?”

    “Zone the _fuck_ out, like you were in yet _another_ galaxy, Luthor.” Jess sighed happily, “You should talk to Kara, before you start zoning out mid-mission.”

    “After the team meeting.” Lena tapped her bracelet, opening the ship-wide comms. “Everyone, team meeting in the round room.” She walked with Jess down the walkway and up the ramp to the round room to wait for everyone to gather.

    Thankfully, it didn’t take long for everyone to show up. “Alright I won’t waste any time, we have news.” Lena glanced at Kara, knowing she could happily waste a whole lot of time on her. However, the Pathfinder duty called, consistently. “The scanner upgrade that Jack and I built, with Kara’s help, was successfully installed during the last mission. Good job on that, Winn.”

    Winn nodded, and glanced at Kara, and Kara glanced back. Lena caught it, and felt something stir up within her.

    “Anyway,” Lena cleared her throat, making sure she had everyone’s attention, “we’re closer to success. With the scanner upgraded, we have a much better chance at finding Auh’vi, and their machine. Once we find it, we take it out.”

    She shared a look with Lucy and knew, from a strategy point of view, there was another way it could be handled. “Or… we can take control of it, and use it to our advantage. If it really can create whole planets, we might be able to make it create planets for us, planets that don’t make it to the uninhabitable stage. If we control that sweet spot, we control the cluster.”

    “Wouldn’t that make us like the Auh’vi?” Kara spoke up, and to no surprise, caught Lena’s attention immediately over all the other people that decided to speak their mind.

    “Kara, you know more about them than we do, so I’m going to listen to your opinions on our plans, always. We don’t want to become them, so would taking the machine only to create a place for us to live be a bad thing?”

    Kara thought for a moment, considering it. “The Auh’vi would convert planets that were already populated… so if we just stick to uninhabited planets and creating our own, I think it could work. As long as it doesn’t throw off the balance of the cluster.”

    “The… balance?” Lena hadn’t considered balance on a cluster-wide scale. Only in terms of systems. Certain systems were built for so many planets. Adding planets and taking away planets could easily render other planets in the system uninhabitable. “I’d love to hear more about that later, but I think for now, Winn?”

    “Yeah?”

    Lena wanted to grab his attention because he had been staring at Kara, again, but also because he was important to the overarching mission. “I’ll need you on the scanners again, and be thorough, we have the technology for it now.”

    Winn nodded, excited to get back to work and hopefully make some discoveries. “Pathfinder, what if… what if we fail? Kara said they had been working on a machine but what if it’s all entirely hypothetical? How do we know there isn’t a bigger threat? A higher power at play?”

    “I trust Kara, everything she has presented so far has checked out.” It was the first solid show Lena had made of her recovered trust for the alien, but the rest of the table didn’t seem completely convinced.

    Jack spoke up, “We have a backup plan, right? If it all goes to shit?”

    “I’ve been working on something, but it’s nowhere near concrete.” Lucy frowned, as the head of logistics she felt like she had to be more on the ball than she was, but they were basically improvising at this point.

    Everyone looked to Lena. As Pathfinder, she was the one in charge, so of course everything would be down to her in the end.

    “Let’s just say that failure isn’t an option.” She spoke quietly, locking eyes with Kara, the person who gave her the most confidence. “Unless anyone has anything else to say or contribute, this team meeting is over.” Lena let a moment pass, but no one had anything to add. The silence was almost eerie, so Lena left quickly. She headed down to her quarters, needing some time to process everything.

    She sat down on the bed and took off her bracelet, throwing it down on the sheets. There was never truly a moment of silence out in space, it was the one thing she missed most about Earth. You could find a place where there was nothing but silence, or at least the sounds of nature. Out here, on the ship, there was always a hum, always the sound of technology that seemed to get louder when you weren’t distracted by anything.

    There was a knock on the door and Lena sighed, “Can it wait? I just need a moment.” She called out, pinching the bridge of her nose as the beeping somehow got even louder.

    “Lena? It’s Kara.”

    She looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, the same voice that made her feel all these _things_ that she hadn’t felt in a long time, and things she was sure she had never felt before. “Kara, come in. Sorry, I know technically this is your room too. You’re welcome any time. Oh, we were supposed to talk, right?” She stood when Kara nodded and came in, closing the door behind her.

    “Are you okay?” Kara made her way over, fidgeting with her hands just a little. Lena couldn’t tell if it was nerves or just a habit.

    “I will be, how are you? After… everything that happened out there.” They moved to the couch together, sitting close.

    Kara hesitantly took Lena’s hand in hers, glad that the Pathfinder didn’t reject her, especially after she had put her powers on display. “I was scared, for you.” She paused, “And Lucy.” She swallowed visibly, “I just… I took a _lot_ of lives…”

    “Kara it’s _okay_.” Lena squeezed her hand, “Don’t forget what you told me, about how they almost took Krypton. I know… that Krypton’s status remains unknown, but just think about how many more lives the Auh’vi have taken. Countless planets.”

    She nodded, wiping at her eyes before any tears managed to fall. “Thank you, Lena.”

    “For what?”

    “For being you. And for knowing the exact right thing to say, always.” Kara laughed softly, ducking her head to hide the blush that settled on her cheeks.

    Lena’s heart was all over the place, between being so close to Kara, and hearing her say these things that made her want to melt, to find her way into those arms and feel safer than anyone else ever could. “We should get some rest.”

    “Agreed. Also, I might need a cape for my space suit. It helps with aerodynamics.” Kara smiled and left Lena’s side to gather her things to get ready for bed.

    “Right! Of course, that makes sense. I’ll organise it.” Lena stood and went to the bathroom to change, already drafting a dozen designs in her head for Kara’s cape.

    When Lena returned and got into bed, the lights were already off. She reached over to the other side of the bed, but there was only empty space. She squinted, and could make Kara out in the backdrop of stars. “Kara?”

    “Yeah?”

    “Why are you on the couch?” Lena propped herself up on her elbow, curious because they had already established that there was plenty of space for them to share the bed.

    Kara almost full-body blushed, and was glad everything was in the dark, only slightly lit by the surrounding starlight. “I thought… after today, you might want some space.” Her voice was quiet, but Lena was able to hear the uncertainty.

    “Come here.” Lena patted the bed next to her and watched as Kara moved and stalked over in the shadows to get on the bed next to Lena. She threw the pulled-back covers over Kara, “I’m sick and tired of space.” She whispered, moving closer to Kara until she felt warm skin against her arm. She relaxed, resting her head against Kara’s shoulder. There was no way Kara couldn’t hear the erratic beating of her heart this close. “I was scared.”

    Kara closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of Lena pressed up against her. It felt incredibly intimate, in the dark, but she felt a stab of regret at Lena’s admission. “Of me?”

    “For you.” Lena clarified, watching Kara’s profile in the dark. “You just went out there… without telling us what you planned to do. That scared me.”

    “I’m sorry.”

    Lena brushed her nose against the underside of Kara’s jaw without meaning to, and swore she felt Kara shiver in response. “All I ask… is to be filled in, before you go off like that.” She sighed, her body relaxing further into the bed and against Kara’s warm figure.

    Kara didn’t want to move, in case it caused Lena to move away from her. This closeness she hadn’t predicted, it was making her thoughts and feelings run wild. She knew there was something between them, but she had no idea how to proceed. She hoped Lena did. “Did you know Winn screams like a girl?” She asked quietly, but was answered by the feeling of Lena’s breath ticking her neck. The Pathfinder had already fallen asleep, tired from the mission. Kara laughed softly to herself and relaxed, feeling like she could take on millions of Auh’vi, if she had Lena at her side.


	9. relaying a message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discovery, a dance, and something that's been a long time coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this is my favourite chapter i think you'll understand why)

    Lena woke up in a cold sweat, sitting upright. She immediately felt the loss of warmth that had been maintained by Kara’s arms around her. She breathed heavily, wiping at her brow.

    The movement woke Kara up, and she was upright in a second, rubbing Lena’s back in soothing motions. “Are you okay?” She asked, voice quiet and full of worry. Lena was almost shivering, cold to the touch but sweating more than usual.

    “Nightmare.” Lena folded herself into Kara, her legs across the girl’s lap and her face buried in her shoulder. She let a heavy breath leave her when Kara laid back down, bringing Lena with her.

    “What about? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

    “My brother was alive, here, in Andromeda.” Lena closed her eyes, her hand closing in a fist around the fabric of Kara’s shirt. “He kept chasing after us… me.” Lena let the slip-up go, hoping Kara wouldn’t focus on it.

    Kara continued rubbing circles on Lena’s back, helping calm her down.

    “We should get up.” Lena tried to get herself upright again, not wanting to get too comfortable in Kara’s arms, not when they were awake. She had a job to do. However, she found herself held down by Kara’s incredible strength. She met blue eyes, and saw her own feelings reflected tenfold.

    “Are you sure?”

    Lena could only nod.

    “I’m here for you if you need.” Kara offered, letting Lena go reluctantly.

    She got up and looked back at Kara, wearing nothing but underwear and a shirt, tangled up in her bedsheets, being kissed by the sun they were flying past. “I’ve had nightmares before, I can handle it.” She went into the bathroom and began getting ready for the day, trying to ignore the butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach.

    By the time Lena was done with her routine, Kara had already made the bed and completely disappeared from the room. Lena wanted to find her. It was always a game of hide and seek on the Lutessa, without it meaning to be. You could go searching for a specific person, and they would be in the last possible place you check. On her third walk down the lower hallway, she got a message and checked her bracelet.

     _‘Got a lead, come see me on the bridge.’_ It was from Winn.

    Lena wasted no time and went straight up to the bridge. The only place she hadn’t searched, and you guessed it, the exact place Kara was. She walked towards the galaxy map, watching the exchange going on between Kara and James. She felt a pang of jealousy and chased it away immediately. “Winn, you messaged?”

    “Right, the lead! The scanners got a hit.”

    “On the Auh’vi I hope.” Lena pulled up the map and zoomed in on the flashing beacon that the scanner had pointed out. “What’s this?”

    “Not Auh’vi, but something on a large scale.” Winn blew up a picture on his main display, “It’s a planet, and it has lifeforms. Humanoid.”

    “What?”

    “And by humanoid, I mean humans, and other races too. I think… it’s an exile planet.” Winn showed a different version of the planet, the thorough scan that showed the large mass _inside_ the planet.

    “Okay, what’s _that_?” Lena leaned in, looking at the shape and size compared to the rest of the planet. “That’s massive.”

    “There’s a tiny energy signature. But given how far this thing is lodged inside the planet, I’d say it’s been there for a very, very long time. Also, it’s accessible from the surface. A cave system.”

    “Also, exile planet?” Lena was confused, the only way there could be exiles was if the Nexus had kicked people out, and she had assumed everyone that had arrived had been living on the Nexus. Perhaps the Director had some explaining to do.

    Winn nodded, “Ex-Nexus workers, a large Krogan population, too.”

    Lena glanced over to the other side of the bridge when she heard Kara laugh at something James had said. She scowled slightly, looking back to the scan. “Take us there. We’re checking it out, and if it’s something we can use, that’ll be a bonus. Keep scanning for the Auh’vi though, before the situation becomes critical.”

    “Already on the way, Pathfinder.” Winn beamed, turning back to his console.

    Kara was leaning heavily on James’ chair, talking animatedly about something when Lena approached. She placed a hand on Kara’s shoulder, successfully tearing her attention away from the pilot.

    “Lena! Any news?” Kara smiled, moving away from James, pulling Lena with her without needing to place a hand on the Pathfinder.

    “No Auh’vi, but Winn found a large mass buried deep beneath a planet’s surface, so we’re heading there right now. Also, the planet seems to be inhabited by exiles. People kicked off the Nexus, among other races.” Lena leaned against a panel, trying to level her heart rate when Kara stood closer to her than was deemed the social norm.

    “Good news and bad news…” Kara frowned, tucking hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. “What can I do?”

    Lena tried her hardest to keep her thoughts on the mission, she really did. It was proving tough when, well, a beautiful alien was standing face to face with her. “I need you.” Lena coughed, “Need you to come with me.”

    “Yeah?”

    “On the mission, I mean.”

    “Well I’m always available.” Kara smiled innocently. That smile would one day be the death of Lena.

    “Maybe you could identify the thing in the caves.”

    “Caves?”

    “The unidentified object is accessible by cave, or so Winn says.” Lena felt a little overheated. She couldn’t tell if it was from last night’s nightmare or from the way Kara was looking down at her.

    “Got it. Hopefully the exiles will be friendly!” Kara mock-saluted and left Lena where she leaned against a panel in search of food.

    Lena exhaled heavily, deflating against the cool metal panel. She wiped a hand down her face, feeling like a complete idiot.

 

    Alex was interrupted mid-snooze by the opening doors of the med-bay. She lurched forward in her seat, grabbing her tablet and trying to appear as awake as possible for the visitor. When she realised it was only Kara, she groaned. “What do you want?”

    “Do you sleep… in your desk chair? Don’t you have a bunk?” Kara plopped herself down onto the bench, watching Alex attempt to wake up.

    “I do, but falling asleep on the job is something I’m proud of. It’s a talent.” Alex’s voice was monotonous, and Kara, as always, struggled to differentiate between genuine facts and sarcasm. “Again, what do you want?”

    “I _want_ to ask Lena out, but where is _out_ when you’re in space?” Kara asked, genuinely asking for dating advice from Alex, the grumpy space doctor.

    “You really must be desperate to come to me for help.” Alex dragged herself, in her chair, closer to the bench. “You two are adorable enough as it is, it’s almost like you’re both doing this to try and crack me.”

    Kara shook her head, “Quite the opposite! It’s great having someone on the squad who’s straightforward all the time, y’know?”

    Alex stared at Kara, and honestly, the only thing she could see was a girl with honest and positive intentions. She had come on board and won over the hearts of absolutely everybody. Even Alex. She wouldn’t admit that openly, of course.

    “You’re doing the staring thing, does that mean I’ve screwed up?” Kara whined softly, “Oh Rao, it was the sleeping together, wasn’t it?”

    The doctor almost choked on air in a rare show of emotion. “ _Sleeping together_!?”

    “Oh! Rao! I forgot that means something else! No, we sleep in the same bed, Lena insists that we share because the couch is uncomfortable. For her, it doesn’t bother me.” Kara made sure Alex knew what she meant, even if the explanation caused her cheeks to redden and her temperature to rise.

    “Right. Going out in space, you’d want to find a planet or something, a habitable one. You can’t have a first kiss with a helmet on.” Alex tapped her nose. Kara had no idea what it meant but she went along with it.

    Kara got off the bench and hugged Alex, not surprised at all that Alex didn’t return the hug. “Thank you!” She laughed, leaving a disgruntled Alex all alone in the med-bay.

    At the very same moment, up at the round table, Lena was searching her own portable galaxy map, marking down certain coordinates. Winn was in on the plan, and Lena could only hope she would hold it together in the next day or so to execute her plan. She also hoped that Winn wouldn’t spill the beans.

     _‘We’re on the approach to the exile planet, also known as Kadara.’_ Winn’s voice came over the PA system and Lena made her way to the loadout bay. When she got there, Lucy and Kara were already getting suited up.

    “Sounds like the exiles are struggling, the planet is just on the cusp of turning uninhabitable. Water sources are becoming toxic, incredibly acidic.” Lena stepped into her suit, “So steer clear of any water, unless it’s served in a bar or restaurant.”

    “There are _bars_!?” Lucy almost jumped on the spot, “Can we go?”

    Lena looked to Lucy, “If we have time.”

    Kara couldn’t seem to tear her eyes off Lena, and the Pathfinder could feel it. They almost burned, but it felt good. It filled her with nerves and confidence at the same time, both feelings converging in a mess of even stronger butterflies.

    As soon as they landed at an approved dock, they jumped ship and came face to face with the bustling exile city of Kadara. The sounds and smells invaded their senses and for a moment, Lena was lost for words and ideas about where to begin.

    The city was built on a mountain, the main area at the top, and the lower levels hugging the cliff-face. She examined the console next to the elevator. The only other level was the slums, which also was the only way out of the city limits. “I’d prefer to do what we came to do before engaging in the exile lifestyle, wouldn’t you?” Agreement came from Lucy and Kara. “Looks like we need to go down to get out of the city. The Nomad will deploy when we’re a decent distance from the gate.”

    They took the elevator down and walked past the slums to the checkpoint that stood between Kadara Port and the rest of the planet. Lena made sure to be aware of where she stepped, wanting to avoid causing any damage to her suit from stepping in any acidic liquid.

    The checkpoint was guarded by Krogan, two of them, and they both laughed at the three women who asked for access to the outside.

    “You ladies have fun, alright? Try not to become food!” One Krogan joked, but Lena knew he was being mostly serious.

    On the other side, everything felt more open, yet claustrophobic, with high-standing mountain peaks on all sides. “The navpoint is set, let’s get to the drop point so we can get some wheels.” Lucy lead them towards the point and they stood clear for the Lutessa to deploy the Nomad from above.

    ‘ _One Nomad, coming in hot!’_ Winn laughed over the comms as he hit the button that quickly retracted the underside of the Lutessa and dropped the Nomad from above.

    Lena got in, but this time she opted for the passenger side, letting Kara drive. Lucy was, once again, cooped up in the back. “We’re going here, where the cave system opens. It’s the closest entrance Winn could find.” She said, “There will be a couple of outposts on the way, and they’ll probably shoot at us, but it’s best if we just speed past to avoid any severe damage.”

    Kara nodded and pushed the Nomad into gear, heading down a road that looked well used.

    The Pathfinder was basically seated sideways on the passenger side, facing Kara. She held onto her tablet, keeping tabs on their position, any hostile heat signatures, and the navpoint they were making their way over to. “We could take a shortcut over this ridge, it would save us having to go past at least two outposts.”

    “I could always just get out and carry us to the cave.” Kara said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

    “Outposts, remember? They aren’t just unfriendly faces with guns, it’s very likely they have snipers.” Lena pointed to an approaching ridge, “Take us up and over there.”

    “Think we can make it up an incline that steep?” Lucy asked, leaning forward into the space between the front two seats. Her answer was a stare from Lena. “Alright, I guess we’ll find out.”

    “It’s been weeks, this is the biggest lead we have, I’ll do anything to make any kind of progress at this point.” The Pathfinder job was starting to take its toll, and Lena felt the pressure on a grand scale. She could only take so many sleepless nights.

    Kara used the boost nearing the top of the ridge, hoping it would push them over the top. It didn’t work. “Hold on.” She got out of the Nomad and grabbed the roof racks, lifting the Nomad up into the air.

    Lena held onto the rail on the ceiling, watching with wonder as they were lifted over the ridge. The landscape was incredible, stretching on forever. Dangerous-looking rolling hills, incredibly deep valleys. The giveaway blue hue of the water told Lena that waters around these parts were already incredibly acidic. Any attempt to neutralise the liquid for consumption would decimate any machinery.

    They were set down and Kara got back in to guide the Nomad down the other side of the mountain.

    “There,” Lena pointed, “that’s the entrance.” It was dark, and an incredible number of stalagmites and stalactites made the entrance look like a mouth, with teeth that could tear them to shreds.

    Lena told Kara to park the Nomad at the entrance, and they got out. “Helmets on, just in case.” Lena put hers on, making sure it sealed properly, given by the soft hiss of the built-in oxygen tank pressurising the suit. “Let’s go.” She patted her left shoulder, turning on her flashlight.

    ‘ _I’m going to boost our comm channel’s signal, and Pathfinder?’_

    “Winn?”

     _‘The scanner just found 2 more masses within planets identical to the one you’re trying to find. This could be big.’_

    “Got it. Kara, you can go ahead if you want, we want to find this thing as soon as possible. Keep your comms open.” Lena said, hanging back with Lucy on foot. They watched as Kara left the ground.

    “I have an idea of how to get to it.” Kara looked to Lena and Lucy on the ground, “X-ray vision.” She pointed to her eyes and smiled. “I’ll go confirm the route.”

    Kara left them alone, and Lena, trusting that Kara was right, decided to head in the direction Kara had gone, with Lucy on her tail.  “Keep moving, we have no idea what else could be in this cave system.”

    After fifteen minutes of walking through the cave in one direction, they got to a drop-off. Lucy had moved to be in front of Lena, and had almost fallen over the edge, if it hadn’t been for Lena’s quick reflexes, grabbing onto Lucy’s suit and pulling her back. “Careful.” She warned, looking down into the seemingly bottomless pit.

    “Thanks.” Lucy breathed, trying not to let the almost-slip-up rattle her too much. “Here,” she passed Lena a stick from her pouch, “use this.”

    Lena cracked the stick, and it illuminated. She dropped it, and they both watched the light-blue glow descend into the hole. They heard a soft splash. “Water?”

    “Would it be acidic?”

    “The stick isn’t disintegrating. I think we just found the only water on the planet that isn’t acidic yet.” Lena looked to Lucy, “Let’s go.”

    Before Lucy could protest, Lena had jumped over the edge. The much louder splash echoed through the chamber. “Well, shit.” Lucy sighed and reluctantly jumped in after Lena.

    Lena’s flashlight illuminated the space she had jumped down into. She spotted a place to climb up and swam over, pulling herself out of the water. “Is that…” Lena walked off into the darkness, ignoring Lucy who had been silently asking for a hand to get out of the water.

    “So much for sticking together.” Lucy grumbled, pulling herself out of the water and running off after Lena. She stumbled over some larger rocks, but after a minute of chasing after Lena, the cave opened out into a large cavern, and light was filtering through from the surface.

    The Pathfinder was speechless. She had followed the cave from the water, and found Kara, standing alone, staring at the large mass poking through the ground into the incredible cavern. The cavern exposed what Lena thought what could only be a small fraction of the entire thing. The light that came down from the surface made the strange mass’s clean white exterior shine. It looked like it didn’t belong buried under all this dirt and rock.

    Kara stepped forward and approached the mass. She took off the gloves of her suit and they attached magnetically to her belt. She placed both hands against the white surface, feeling the energy underneath.

    Whatever it was, it wasn’t dormant.

    “Hey, what happened to the ‘no one gets left behind’ policy-oh.” Lucy caught up, stumbling into the cavern. “Wow…”

    Lena walked up to Kara, watching the Kryptonian analyse the mass. She took out her tablet and scanned the exposed area, finding energy signals and complex wiring, the likes of which she had never seen. It was advanced, technology centuries ahead of anything the Andromeda Initiative had, and their technology was considered advanced among the masses.

    One second Kara had been by her side, the next, she was climbing the solid white surface, seemingly searching for something.

    “Kara?” Lena called after her, wondering what Kara was trying to find, if anything.

    “I know what this is!” Kara yelled down at Lena and Lucy, using her x-ray vision to examine the inner workings of the mass. She spotted a signature, something she had been looking for.

    A Kryptonian sigil.

    “Well?” Lena craned her neck, looking up at Kara where she was hanging from a part of the contraption that jutted out from the main mass. She was anxious to find out what it was, and if it could be of any use to them. At her side, Lucy seemed equally anxious.

    Kara dropped down, landing in front of them heavily. She straightened, eyes bright. “It’s a mass relay.”

    Lena just about lost it. “A _mass relay_!? Out _here_?” Her head spun, thinking of all the possibilities. If Winn had found others, this was concrete evidence that the Andromeda galaxy inhabitants had been using mass relays to travel between clusters.

    “It’s not just any mass relay, it’s Kryptonian.” Kara added, “Kryptonian mass relays were built to exist within planets, so, in fact, this mass by itself isn’t the mass relay. The _planet_ is.”

    “Holy _shit_.” Lena felt like she’d found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Technology so advanced it had been integrated with the environment. The planet existed as a mass relay, as well as a place for people to live, maintaining the balance of the solar system the planet existed in. “Is it active?”

    “Tablet?” Lena handed over her tablet to Kara and she opened a panel on the exposed relay, connecting it by a cable. Lena watched from Kara’s side as her tablet displayed information in a language she wasn’t familiar with. The Kryptonian language, she guessed. “It’s active. Last use was a month ago.” Kara read the information aloud, translating.

    Kara had tears in her eyes, reading her language for the first time in what felt like forever, holding evidence that the technology of her people was being used. She was getting closer to finding home.

    “Kara?” Lena placed a hand on Kara’s shoulder, trying to bring the girl back into the present. When teary blue eyes settled on hers, she relaxed. “Hey, are you okay?”

    “I’m great. Sorry, here.” Kara handed Lena her tablet back and wiped at her eyes. “It’s a little overwhelming, finding technology from home.”

    Lena understood. She would do anything to hear from Earth. It had been almost a year since their arrival and nothing had come through. Transmissions between galaxies were estimated to take around 8 months. However, she would never understand how it felt to find something from home centuries after being lost in space. The mass relay was smaller than the ones they had back in the Milky Way, and Lena wondered how far they could actually throw a ship.

    “I can tell you more about it, if you’d like.” Kara said, having finally gathered herself.

    “I’d love to hear more. Any information is good.”

    “This model was in its conceptual stages back when I lived on Krypton. The sigil I could see on many of the parts inside matches the sigil of a house I know. The house was close with my own. The house my aunt married into, the House of Ze.” Kara talked with animation, “They’re known primarily as a house heavily involved with military, but whatever scientists they had, were exceptional in what they did.”

    Lena was, once again, speechless. Hearing about Kara’s home, the structure of her society, it was fascinating.

    “There was a version of mass relay out in space at that time, just for jumping between clusters. This model was being created to extend that reach.” She continued, “There was a lot of uproar about it, that reaching out so far could get us all killed. If other races out there knew of our capabilities, it would paint a target on our back. The existence of this relay… means they went ahead with the development. This mass relay can jump between galaxies.”

    Lucy’s mouth opened and closed, over and over, and nothing came out. Lena was frozen to the spot, her head spinning. “I didn’t expect that. At all.” Lena said, a little lost for words. “Galaxies as in…”

    “Yeah, Milky Way, among other galaxies.” Kara confirmed, quietly hoping this information wouldn’t cause any trouble.

    “This can’t leave us. You hear that Winn?”

     _‘I think I’m having a stroke.’_

    “Winn, lock it down.”

     _‘I’ll get on it, scrubbing the mission’s recorded audio.’_

    “We didn’t get any Kryptonian visitors before we left to come here, so I assume this was all completed and deployed somewhere in the 600 years we were frozen.” Lena took pictures of the relay on her tablet, and secured them. If the Nexus got hold of any information on this, they would be walking a very fine line between being the invaders and being the peaceful asylum seekers. It would be out of her hands.

    “Winn, mark those other planets down, enter our findings as an organic mass. We don’t want any officials getting their hands on this technology.” Lena turned to Kara, “Get us out of here?”

    “Can I just do one more thing with your tablet?” Kara smiled when Lena handed over the tablet, and she connected it back to the relay. She copied the relay model and grabbed an instance of the network it was part of, so they could confirm the locations of all the other relays in the cluster, as well as the galaxy. “This information might help us find Krypton, as well as the Auh’vi. Each alien race’s ship models have a unique signature that is catalogued when the relay is used.”

    Lena raised an eyebrow, “We can track them using the relays?”

    “Exactly. However, we won’t be able to use the relays ourselves unless the Lutessa has the compatible technology. If not, I can help modify the ship.” Kara nodded, comfortable showing her intellect to Lena and Lucy. She wanted to be as useful as possible. “Without the modification, the relay won’t be able to throw us, and instead we’ll just crash into the planet. Okay, up, up and away!”

    The Pathfinder took back her tablet and gasped as Kara lifted both Lena and Lucy in her hands, up through the space in the ceiling of the cavern where natural light came through.

 

    “A beer and whatever she gets.” Lena got her bracelet scanned by the bartender so she could be charged for the drinks.

    “One Angaran ale, please.” Kara flashed a smile at the bartender, offering to carry both of their drinks to the table. When they sat, Kara had to stop herself from downing the entire thing in one. “Some things don’t change after 600 years.” She mused, “This drink is one of the few that can get a Kryptonian drunk.”

    Lena laughed softly, “Well I hope you don’t get drunk, we’re technically still on the mission.”

    “Is dancing part of the mission?”

    They both looked at Lucy, who was dancing on the dancefloor amongst humans and other alien species. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music, although Lena couldn’t tell if it was human or created by a different race. “Not sure, but if it is, Lucy’s killing it.”

    “Killing!?” Kara stared at Lena, confused.

    “Figure of speech.” Lena took a big sip of her beer, deciding to look at Kara instead of the dancing. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Kara was the most beautiful person there. Even all dressed up in a bulky space suit.

    “Right, got it. How’s the cape designing coming along?” Kara asked, finally looking at Lena instead of the dancefloor and noticing the Pathfinder had been staring at her, causing her to blush.

    “It should be done by the time we return to the Lutessa. I have a 3D printer creating the fabric from scratch.” Lena said, excited for Kara to try on the cape. “I’m also creating one for you to wear when you don’t need the suit. It clips onto any kind of clothing.”

    Kara couldn’t wait to try it on and see how flying felt with her new cape. “I’m so grateful, thank you Lena.”

    “This place isn’t exactly date-worthy, right?”

    “W-what?”

    “Do you think people would go on dates here? This junker bar on an exile planet?”

    “A-are you saying… t-that this is a date?” Kara asked quietly, trying not to make her blush any worse than it already was.

    “No, no. Do… do you want it to be?” Lena set her drink down, turning more towards Kara. This conversation was very quickly tipping into unknown territory. Also, this wasn’t the way she wanted to ask Kara out. But if the shoe fits…

    “Maybe?” It was just a whisper, but somehow, over the loud music, Lena heard it. “What would happen if it was?”

    “Not much would change, if at all.” Lena moved her chair closer to Kara’s around the table, sitting close enough for their shoulders to brush. When they did, it made an uncomfortable noise due to the material of their suits. “Maybe we’d be more inclined to dance?”

    Kara glanced at the dancefloor. The prospect of dancing with one Lena Luthor was _very_ tempting. The scales tipped completely in the direction of ‘desire for this situation to be a date’. “Can we?”

    “What, dance?” Lena’s eyebrows rose. She hadn’t expected the conversation to swing this way _at all_. At this point it was getting close to equal with how unexpected their earlier discovery had been.

    “Yeah.”

    “What about our suits? They’ll get in the way, won’t they?”

    “You’re wearing clothes underneath though. We both are.” Kara started taking her suit apart where she sat, stuffing everything in a pile underneath the table.

    Lena didn’t need to be asked twice. She joined Kara, getting out of her suit in possibly record time. Beer and ale forgotten, she took Kara’s hand in hers and moved to the dancefloor, making sure Lucy was still distracted on the other side. They didn’t want to be interrupted. Lena hesitantly looped her arms around Kara’s neck and shivered when she felt Kara’s hands come to rest at her hips. Even if they didn’t really know how to dance to the music playing, it seemed as if the music had a way of making the body move.

    They were close, so close, moving with the music and feeling the bass thrum through them, as if trying to take control. Lena looked up into Kara’s eyes, still confused as to whether this meant they were officially on a date or not.

    “I’m not alone in my feelings… am I?”

    Lena could only shake her head in reply.

    Neither of them knew, but Lucy had seen them, she was watching from the other side of the dancefloor. She knew not to interrupt, not when the two were looking at each other like _that_. Like the other person was their entire world, their reason for existing. Watching them was almost hypnotising, and they moved with perfect timing.

    Lena rested her head on Kara’s shoulder, choosing then and there to give up the charade that she was the Pathfinder, this incredibly confident and fierce leader. She relaxed under Kara’s touch, and stepped up onto her feet, letting Kara take the lead and dance for the both of them.

    “Everything okay?” Kara whispered, resting her head atop Lena’s.

    “Perfect.”

    “My insides are full of… what do you call them? Butterflies.” She said, not sure what else to say. Maybe saying nothing at all was a better choice. She didn’t want to ruin anything, not when their relationship had come this far.

    Lena’s laugh gave Kara relief. It was a beautiful sound, and over all her years, she had heard many. It filled her with hope, for what would come and what was about to happen. Between them, and on their journey.

    “I had a plan.”

    “For what?”

    “Us. The first date, I mean.” Lena closed her eyes, feeling Kara sway them both on the spot. “I found a planet, it’s basically a paradise. It’s in the habitable stage, and I wanted to take you there.”

    “There’s still time.” Kara smiled, “It will probably be years before it becomes uninhabitable.”

    Lena made a note of it, keeping that information to herself. Suddenly a voice that, unfortunately, wasn’t Kara’s, was in her ear. _‘When are you guys getting back?’_ Winn asked, _‘I thought we were going to have a movie night to celebrate!’_

    “Five minutes.” Lena let go of Kara, “We have to get back. Winn’s getting impatient. I don’t think he likes being parked here among the exiles.” She shook her head, grabbing her suit from under their table. She quickly finished the rest of her beer and headed for the exit, grabbing Lucy by the shoulder on the way.

    Finally, back aboard the Lutessa, Lena hung her suit up and went to the bridge to check in with Winn. “Are you sure all the information from this mission is secure?”

    “Yeah, don’t worry about it. So, for movie choices, I was thinking-“

    “Your choice, just pick something. Call everyone when you’re ready.” Lena interrupted, wanting to get back to her quarters, where she knew Kara was.

    She slid down the ladder and walked down the hallway, opening the doors and closing them just as quickly behind her. She looked into the open space, eyes eagerly searching for Kara. She backed up against the doors when Kara appeared in front of her. “Kara…” She breathed, looking up into her eyes, they were reflecting the uncertainty she felt deep down that was quickly being swallowed up by the feelings she had for Kara. Her eyes dipped to Kara’s lips for a moment, unable to curb the blatant desire she felt to kiss the girl.

    “I’m sorry, for breaking your trust.”

    “Kara that was almost a month ago, I forgave you-“ Lena was cut off when Kara placed her index finger against her lips.

    “I’m sorry if this… isn’t allowed. I have to…” Kara quietened, and a moment later, her lips replaced her finger, pressing gently and cautiously against Lena’s.

    Lena gasped, carefully pushing off the wall and into the kiss. She had hoped, but hadn’t expected Kara to be the one to initiate things between them. However, it was a pleasant and very welcome surprise. Warm lips tasting of citrus and fresh air would always be _very_ welcome.

    Kara pulled away, searching Lena’s eyes for anything, any indication that this wasn’t what the Pathfinder wanted. She came away empty-handed, but couldn’t help the doubt that curled up and settled inside her. “Was that…”

    “Okay? Yes, very, please…” Lena couldn’t help it, the last word coming out in a pleading manner, “…again, kiss me again.”

    It felt like time was going by in slow motion, yet the very next second, Lena was pressed up between the cold metal of the doors and the solid warmth of Kara. This kiss was hard and certain, purposeful. Lena felt the breadth and depth of Kara’s feelings, on par with her own, communicated through every touch. She wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck, committing to the kiss, savouring every second.

    She gently bit at Kara’s lower lip, pulling back only to be chased. She continued to meet Kara halfway, but soon found herself out of breath. This time, Lena pulled away, smiling blissfully when Kara rested her forehead against hers. She laughed breathlessly, a hand playing with the soft, shorter hairs at the nape of Kara’s neck.

    “I think Winn’s calling.” Kara could feel the vibration of Lena’s bracelet against her skin. “It’s about the movie night, isn’t it?”

    “You heard?” Lena’s question was answered by Kara’s soft nod. “I wish I could stay here with you, continue whatever this is.”

    “I thought it was called a first kiss, unless I’m mistaken?”

    Lena smiled, pressing a gently kiss to the edge of Kara’s mouth. The smile that replaced Kara’s confusion was nothing short of life-changingly beautiful. “You’re not mistaken, not at all.” She said, the hand at Kara’s neck moving to cup the girl’s cheek. “We should go.”

    Kara whined softly, wanting to stay with Lena. Maybe not pressed up against a door, perhaps on the couch or bed instead, continuing this.

    “Need to make an appearance, and Winn’s been asking for this for weeks.” Lena explained, and they found themselves lazily completing their secret handshake, already in the final position of their foreheads resting together. “But you’re sitting next to me on the couch.”

    “I am?”

    “That’s an order.” She breathed, stealing one last kiss before taking Kara’s hand and pulling her through the doors towards the cargo bay.

    “Yes, Pathfinder.”


End file.
